Keep Holding On
by readwrite-livelife
Summary: Annabeth is confused. Her father has always been protective of her, so she is unaware of a normal life. The way she lives might change forever. Percy is secretive. He's scared to open up to others, even his best friends. He's funny and social, but does anyone really have just one side? How will their story unfold? Can they keep holding on till the end?
1. Introductions

**Introductions: (Note: Some things are tweaked for story purposes.)**

Me: Hey guys! I've been dying to write a fanfiction lately, so here I am! This chapter/part is just introducing the characters in the story. I have a major Percabeth addiction, so that's mainly what this story is about. Sorry for the extremely long descriptions, I just got really into it. So, I hope you enjoy hopping on the Percabeth train with me, as I tend to drift off to it from time to time... Anyways, I love The Heroes of Olympus and Percabeth so, I hope you like this fan fiction. Message me if you have any questions or requests! I'll try to work it in!

 **Annabeth:** Annabeth Chase is a 15-year-old girl, with a lot of brains. She currently is in 11th grade, and grew up most of her life sheltered. She was born in the capital of Greece, Athens, and moved to New Jersey when she was about 7-years-old. Annabeth lives with her father, and was pushed to work constantly. That's also why she was moved up a grade in middle school. She is always reading, writing (usually stories), math, you get the point. She does this mostly to distract herself from her past. You see, Annabeth had a mother (obviously), but has no clue who her mother is. As a child, she would cry herself to sleep, asking herself one question, why did she leave me? Her father dodged the questions, and Annabeth could clearly tell, even from then, it was too painful for him to talk about. Her mom had always been a touchy subject for her as well. From then, in about sixth grade, Annabeth was a ghost. She had labeled herself without help from any bullies to save them the trouble: She was a nerd, a bookworm, a geek, a loser, and to be honest, a freak. The only thing she had from her mom was a necklace that read, "It gets better" on it. Whenever she felt lost, she gripped her necklace. Her father repeated that she needed to let things go. She had already known from a young age, "Letting go is hard, but holding on is harder." She never had time for parties, friends, and especially, boys. This was mostly because everyone in her grade was a year older and assumed she was a total bummer (which she kind of was at the time.) Until one day, her world was turned upside down.

 **Percy:** Percy Jackson is a 16-year-old in 11th grade. He was born in Greece, in the city of Patras. Percy had a very social attitude. He was the talk of the school, so you can imagine what he was like. Percy was a jock, a player, a troublemaker, and definitely, hilarious. He was great with words, clearly. He had this way of speaking, that basically got him both into, and out of trouble. He, unlike Annabeth, knew who both his parents were. He just didn't live with both of them. His mother, Sally, was basically his best friend. They had the open relationship that all families strive for. His father, Poseidon, was a huge marine biologist. He was very recognized and very wealthy. Poseidon and Sally didn't see eye to eye, sadly. Sally believed spoiling Percy would ruin his life. So, Sally became Percy's guardian, while Percy visited Poseidon on weekends and on certain holidays. Because of the divorce, Percy was always switching rooms, switching rules, switching parents, and switching lives. He had different expectations and desires from both his parents. Luckily, Percy always looked on the bright side, "Hey, at least I get two birthday presents AND two Christmas presents! What more can a kid ask for?"

 **Friends:** Percy had tons of friends, but only a couple that mattered. Grover had been Percy's friend since they were just kids. They seemed the closest of all of Percy's friends, except for Thalia Grace. Thalia was Percy's cousin, which was hard to believe, yet seemed believable. She was slightly emo, but also had an amazing sense of humor. Percy's other cousin, and Thalia's brother, Jason Grace, was very similar to Percy. They were both on the football team, and they had the same group of friends, but Jason was just a touch more responsible. He even had a girlfriend that lasted more than a week! Piper Mclean was Jason's extremely beautiful girlfriend. She was also the nicest of Percy's friends. Piper almost had an ability with controlling love. She was the queen of love (more like the princess). She loved shipping couples and spending quality time with her friends. She was also extremely protective of her friends, almost as much as Percy. Reyna Avila Ram rez-Arellano was yet another of Percy's amazing friends. She was extremely badass and spent a lot of her time making fun of Grover and Percy with Thalia, sniggering behind their backs. She didn't have a problem with confrontation, and was happy to tell others the brutally honest truth. She could definitely dish it out to any student. She was extremely intimidating and was a born leader, similar to Percy. (If you hadn't noticed, these people are all similar in one way or another to Percy). Leo, the comedian of the group was extremely funny. He was basically the class clown at the circus. He always knows how to make you laugh and is a great, dependable person to talk to. Frank was pretty similar to Annabeth (not physically). He was a klutz, but a big softy and a all around lovable guy. Maybe he wasn't the cutest or the funniest or the hottest, but he was the most friendly. Frank, for some reason, had a frenemy relationship with Leo, because there had briefly been some jealousy over Hazel Levesque, Frank's girlfriend. Hazel Levesque was a reliable friend. She wasn't too close to Percy, but was definitely was part of his clique. She was a kindhearted person, and very similar to Frank. She was envied, especially by Annabeth, for being so easy going. She held basically no grudges (ironic), and was beautiful in her own way. Silena Beauregard, another one of the most gorgeous girls at their school, is very kind. She is very loyal to her friends and will do anything to protect them. Her boyfriend, Charles Beckendorf, better known as Charlie, is also a close friend of Percy. He is a very brave spirit, and is dedicated to his friends.

 **Other People:** There was also 'the single ladies' (or so they called themselves): Calypso, Rachel, and you won't believe it, Drew! Yay! (Just kidding). She actually forced them to let her into their group, and took the position of 'leader of beauty', which no one called her, except her boyfriend, Octavian. Octavian and Drew have been dating for 2 months. Rachel and Octavian dated before that for 5 months, but broke up because Drew split them. Piper was particularly upset with that; she was the one that shipped them. It was kind of ironic that the leader of 'the single ladies' group was not single, so Drew changed their name to 'Beauty Queens: TGFY' (TGFY- Too good for you). She even made posters. Thalia and Reyna walked by and saw their faces decorated with sharpie mustaches and unibrows, and cracked up. Thalia couldn't help but take a picture of it. She posted the picture on her Instagram, made it her snapchat story, and sent it to Drew. (In that order.) Drew, furious, stormed down the hallways, giving everyone a 3 minute or 180 second lecture about how we were jealous of her, and how insecure we were for drawing that. (You can guess who did it, hint: they love blue food, and blue sharpies.) She was basically the most popular diva at school, and had a major crush on Percy. Percy used to feel the same way, but they broke up, and Drew stepped up and made it her mission to get him back, (my words, not hers. She could never admit that.)

 **So there it is guys! My introduction to the characters in this fan fiction. You'll get more of their attitudes as the story develops. I plan to add different POV's (Points of view's) to the story to make it more interesting. I'm going to try to upload once every week, so I hope this becomes a series you enjoy and yeah.. that's it for now.**

 **P.s. I'm thinking of making my sign off name KHO for Kelp Head Out. It also stands for Keep Holding On. So, yeah, KHO.**


	2. Where Are My Suspenders?

****Hey people! It's the first official chapter! I really hope you guys like it, comment what you think because I want to hear your opinions! The POV will be in bold letters when it changes! Also, new characters will be added soon as a surprise so, just you wait!  
**  
 **Annabeth POV:**  
"Beep, beep! Beep, beep!" The alarm bell rang off. I pulled off the covers and yawned. Today was a big day. For most people, the start of school was something like a first impression. You needed to stand out to set a standard for yourself for the year. Girls would literally go bonkers on the first day of school, doing everything as perfect as possible. Some even made 'game plans', as if it was a strategy for a football game.

I was different. Who was I going to stand out to anyway? My clothes were set out in advance; I always set them up early before the first day of school. I felt drained. Usually, I was always energized and ready for school, yet today, I felt like a storm was coming. I got in the bathroom and had a bath, which helped with the sleepiness. I got up extremely early today, so I could take my time in getting ready. After I got dressed, I looked at myself in the mirror.

"Oh no..." I thought. I looked way too vivid in these clothes.  
"Annabeth? Honey, come eat some breakfast!" Annabeth's father called from the kitchen. "Coming father!" I responded, still gaping at myself in the mirror. I ran over to grab my glasses and see if I looked any dorkier with them on; it didn't help too much. My old pink sweatshirt looked way too small on me now. The rosy sweatshirt made its way up to a little above my belly button. It basically went from sweatshirt to crop top. My jean shorts were a little too short. They didn't even come down to mid-thigh! Had I really grown that much? I thought about changing, but I definitely didn't want to show up late to school with my father screaming, "Love you, princess!" Behind me, as I cringed, mortified.

I slid down the stairs into a stool at my kitchen table. My father looked up and smiled at me, "Morning, princess!"  
"Hi, dad," I said, thinking of shortcuts to class where I couldn't be seen at school. "Ooh! Pancakes! We haven't had those in months!" I exclaimed. Being short on money, we usually had a banana and a glass of milk instead of anything heavy.

"Just a little something for your first day of school today." He remarked happily. "What's with the glasses?" He questioned. I really hoped he wouldn't ask.  
"Oh, I just thought they fit more. I've been struggling with seeing long distance." I explained, as innocent as I could. I looked down at my pancakes, picking up a knife and fork and stuffing my mouth with the oozing, syrupy goodness.  
"Sure, says the girl with perfect vision," He remarked.  
"Daad!" I whined, "I just don't want people seeing my eyes..." "Your eyes are beautiful, just like-" He stopped there and gazed out the window. I could tell he was going to finish with 'like your mothers'.

He changed the subject, "So, I see you've had a change of fashion." My dad grinned.  
"Ugh, it's terrible," I admitted. "I would rather wear suspenders..." My dad and I locked eyes and immediately started giggling like 5-year-olds.

"Hey, how about we go clothes shopping tomorrow, my treat?" He suggested. I immediately felt happy and relieved, until I realized that shopping means money that we couldn't waste. Suddenly, I was a little less stingy with my attire today. "No, it's fine." I told him, "I'll be fine." "If you're trying to save money, don't worry about it," He said, reassuring me.  
"Really, dad, I'm okay." I looked at him, hoping he would give in. We were basically having a very serious staring contest.

"Okay fine, I give, I give." Dad said, smiling. "Now, off you go, school won't wait for you!" I shoved the remaining pancake into my mouth, not wanting to waste it and grabbed my bag. I pulled on my gray, memory foam shoes. The bag swung around my back, as I pulled open the door and ran out shouting, "Bye, dad!" I sprinted to my bus stop. Sadly, I was met by my annoying peers.

"Jeez, what are you wearing?" Alice chided.  
"First impression, duh," Noah remarked. "And I can tell you it's working." Noah licked his lips and stared at me evilly.  
"Ew, Noah, take a hint," Alice remarked, thankfully for me. I definitely don't want to be in that situation. The bus pulled in and I hopped on towards the front of the bus. I learned that the 'cool boys' (more like obnoxious boys) occupy the back, while the normal people (more like weird/talkative girls) sat in the middle. The nerds, such as I, sit in the front to avoid speaking to others.

Once on the bus, I twirled my blonde hair with one finger, while reading my new book and flipping the pages with my other hand. Alice sat next to me, luckily. She's better than anyone else on the bus. "But, actually though, what is," She motioned up and down my clothes, "that?"  
I couldn't help but giggle at her as I stuffed my book back into my bag, "I outgrew my clothes I guess. There was no time to change." I explained.

"Huh. Maybe some new clothes would be nice." She suggested, like my father. "Here," She took off her blue sweater and handed it to me. "You can tie it around your waist if you want."

I was in shock. No one understood me like Alice. Feeling warmth rush through me, I gratefully accepted the sweater, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I hugged her, which I rarely do. "No problem. Keep it if you want, I'll want something for you to remember me by." She said.  
"Wait, what? Are you going somewhere?" I asked.  
"Yeah, I told you last year. I'm moving to Beijing today after school! I'm just coming to say my goodbyes." She reminded me, and my heart started to break. Of everyone in school, Alice was the closest thing I had to a friend.  
"Ohh, now it's coming back to me," I said. "I'm going to miss you, Alicat," I said, teary-eyed.  
"I'm going to miss you too, Bethy." I looked out the window to see that we had reached school. Alice and I hopped off the bus and gave each other a huge hug. She walked towards school, and I followed.

Everyone was hanging outside since school didn't start for another minute or two. I lost Alice in the crowd.  
"Dang, is that Nerdabeth I see?" A deep voice called from behind me and then whistled. I turned my head to see none other than Luke Castellan standing behind me. His blond hair fluttered in the wind as he glared at me with his crystal blue eyes. Standing behind him was his crew of obnoxious friends.

I turned around and kept walking, trying to find Alice and let her save me again. A hand reached out and pulled me back forcefully. "Where are you running off to princess? The library I 'presume'?" He used the word as if it were mocking, which it wasn't. "Tell you what, I'll let you go for a quick kiss." Luke made a fish face and moved his face to mine.

"Do it, do it!" The boys behind him cheered, Noah included. I was stuck. Dang it, why couldn't I have actually chosen suspenders today? Luckily, someone shoved Luke back into his squad of boys.

Luke scoffed and glared, "Thalia Grace, you shouldn't have done that." Next to me stood Thalia Grace. She had short black hair and jolting electric blue eyes. Her stance was relaxed, yet tough. She wore a dark purple shirt with dark blue jeans. She wore a black, leather jacket with spikes on top of them.

"Oh, I really should have." She remarked back, grinning. "Leave her alone, or, well, you can guess." Thalia glanced over somewhere. I was too stunned to look. Why was she looking out for me? She was Thalia Grace! One of the most popular girls in school! Luke looked over too. I almost saw a flash of fear in his eyes.

"You win..." Luke backed away, his comrades leaving with him.  
"Why did you help me?" I turned and asked her. I had no clue how I was talking to her. Usually, I couldn't get more than a few words out when talking to a random person. This was THE Thalia Grace! One of the roughest, toughest girls at Mount. High School! (Get it, Mount Olympus)  
"You didn't deserve that." Thalia responded, clearly. That was something I had trouble with, speaking loud and clear.  
"Thanks..." I murmured awkwardly. She looked at me, studying me, which made me a little uncomfortable.  
"Anytime." Thalia marched away towards the populars. I looked around, realizing how many people were looking at me.

I scuttled into the building, towards my locker. After I got into the classroom, the teacher, Mr. Brunner, was assigning seats to the class. I gulped. You see, teachers tend to put me next to the louder kids, so they wouldn't talk to me and, they wouldn't be near their friends. Hopefully, I could stay under the radar.  
Mr. Brunner scooted to the next seat, "Here, Iris Bowain." Iris slumped into the seat. She was one of the quiet kids. "Here," Mr. Brunner moved again, "Thalia Grace." No one came forward. "Thalia?" Mr. Brunner called. Out of the hallway, Thalia appeared into class and sunk into her seat. Mr. Brunner didn't seem to mind.

"Here, Annabeth Chase." He called. I stepped forward, literally feeling their stares on me. I took my seat.

"Pip-" Mr. Brunner frowned. He glanced at Thalia, as if he was rethinking something. "Piper Mclean." I turned and saw a grin on Thalia's face. Piper and Thalia were friends, and I could tell, they were happy to sit together (with me in between).

After that, I spaced out a bit, until Mr. Brunner was calling the seat next row, right in front of me. "Here, Per-" Mr. Brunner stopped again. He looked thoroughly confused. He then looked at me and his face almost seemed to say, 'forget about it'. "Perseus Jackson."

My heart stopped. What? Huh? Percy. Percy Jackson. Percy Jackson = sitting in front of me. The statement didn't compute. I was confused. I looked up and Mr. Brunner's face basically read, 'I'm sorry for your loss.' "Percy?" He called again. No response. Wow, he really didn't want to sit next to me.

"Um, I think he's at the principal's office," Thalia said.  
"Oh, okay then." Mr. Brunner moved on to the next seat, "Ja-" He stopped again. Why did he keep doing that. "Why do you keep stopping after reading someone's name?" Thalia asked.  
"I, uh, don't remember writing this down..." He looked like he was thinking. "Ok... Here, Jason Grace." Jason stepped forward and took his seat in front of Piper. She was grinning like crazy, and during class, she kept tapping him on the shoulder and looking away innocently.

After Mr. Brunner had everyone seated, class began. About 15 minutes into class, Percy blew the door open, "Wassup, Mr. Brunner!" Percy smiled. Thalia, Reyna (sitting in front of Thalia), Piper, Leo (sitting in front of Reyna), and Jason started laughing from the back. Jason and Piper tried to contain themselves, while the others just snorted away. I might've let out a chuckle.

"Percy Jackson, that was unacceptable." Mr. Brunner said. "Go sit in your seat. You're in front of Annabeth Chase." "Annie who?" Percy asked. Everyone started laughing again. I wasn't really offended. I wasn't really surprised, why would he know who I am?

"Here Perce," Jason pointed at Percy's seat. Percy made his way to the seat, while the girls stared at him.  
He slid into his seat. Percy was wearing a turquoise t-shirt and black jeans. His hair was messy, but in a really, really, realllllly, hot way. I told my self, _pull yourself together Chase_. His eyes were the same as always, but I could never read them. They were blue, yet they also green. They reminded me of the ocean. Oh! That's it! Sea green!  
He leaned back in his seat so far, his head was practically on my desk. Thalia glanced over. "Percy, get your head off Annabeth's desk!" She chided.

"She can tell me herself," Percy remarked. "Can't you, Annie Bell?" He smirked. God, I hated that nickname. It started in Greece. One of my youngest memories. I went to visit the Parthenon with my father and got lost. There were so many people there, I couldn't find him. I ran towards a bench, sat down, and bawled.  
(This is what memory moments are going to look like by the way.)

* * *

 _"Hey, you okay over here?" I looked up to see a boy, about my age._  
 _"Crying on a bench at one of the most beautiful structures in all of Greece. I'm just dandy." I replied, sarcastically and in tears._  
 _"Oh. Okay then." The boy walked away._  
 _"I was being sarcastic!" I screeched._  
 _"I could tell! Now, why are you crying?" He asked. He sat down next to me as I told him what happened._

 _"Wow. Do you need help looking for him?" He asked me._  
 _"Yes. But, I already looked everywhere." I explained. "Well, we're too short to search for anyone. My dad brought me here on a trip... maybe he can help you!" The boy offered me his hand and I ran with him._

 _He eventually led me to his father._ _"Oh my gods, where were you!" The dad bent down and looked at the boy. "I was worried sick!" The dad gave him a tight hug. I felt like I was intruding._  
 _The dad looked over at me and stood up. "And who's this young lady?" "She can't find her father. Can we help her find him?" The boy asked his dad hopefully._ _"Of course." The dad smiled and turned to me. "Come with me."  
_

 _We walked over to a building. The dad talked to the people and we walked into a security room. The man working there handed us the mic thingy._  
 _"What's your name?" The dad asked._  
 _"Annabeth Chase." I told him. He pressed a button and spoke into it._

 _"Sorry for the interruption," The dad announced, "But I'm looking for the father of Annabeth Chase. If you are here, come to the main security office."_  
 _He turned off the speaker and smiled, "Come on, let's find your dad."_

He led us to the front and there he was, my dad.

 _"DAD!" I cried. I was so happy._  
 _"Annabeth!" We ran towards each other. My dad picked me up and spun me around. "Don't you ever lose me again, you hear?" He asked._  
 _"I'll never lose you again." I smiled.  
_  
 _"Thank you." My dad walked over to them. "I owe you everything."_  
 _"Any good person would. Maybe you would want to walk around with us?" The dad questioned._  
 _"Definitely." We walked around the Parthenon with the dad and the boy. After dinner, our parents were talking to each other and me and the boy waited for them.  
_  
 _"Thank you, if I didn't say it before." I said "Anytime. So, what do I call you?" He asked me._  
 _"How's Annabeth?" I asked._  
 _"Annie Bell? He asked, smiling._  
 _"Annabeth." I corrected.  
_  
 _"Meh. I like Wise Girl better." He announced._  
 _"You know that's a compliment, right?" I retorted._  
 _"Yes, Wise Girl." He rolled his eyes._  
 _"Fine, Kelp Head!" I smirked._  
 _"Now, that's rude." He added._  
 _"Nu-uh, what's wrong with seaweed?" I asked._  
 _"Whatever." He rolled his eyes. I giggled and he joined._

 _That was my first time meeting him. I wish he would've kept in touch after I moved..._

* * *

"Don't call me that," I said, loud and clear. Wow, I guess that offended me more than I thought.  
"Ooh, frisky!" he smirked at me. "And, get your head off my desk," I added. Percy picked his head up and looked at me, grinning. Something about him seemed familiar. 'Of course it does. He's the most popular guy in school, idiot, now stop staring,' I told myself.

"Damn, Percy's getting told off!" Jason smirked. I realized that the back rows of the class were staring at me and Percy squabble, while they were laughing their asses off.

"Class, quiet down!" Mr. Brunner bellowed.  
For the rest of class, things were pretty normal. Later, lunch rolled around. Yay, my least favorite part of school.

 **Thalia POV:**  
Lunch was like always. I walked into the room and was met with Valdez, grinning wildly at me.  
"Sup Thales! Dayum, you are looking fine today!" Leo looked at me up and down. I shoved him, playfully, and paraded to our table.

"Hey, Thales." Grover smiled bashfully. "Wanna," He did a hair flip and looked at me with admiration (Come on bro...) "Sit next to me today?" Grover patted the seat next to him. Leo galloped over to me and sniggered with Grover.  
"I hate you two, so much." Percy, Jason, Reyna, Piper, Hazel, Silena, and Charlie joined in on the fun and started laughing with them.

"Aww, chill out Thales," Percy said. "When Leo and Grover put their minds to something..." Percy and Jason snickered.

I rolled my eyes at them and looked over to see Annabeth, sitting at her own table, reading some sort of book. Earlier, in front of the school, she had asked me, 'Why did you help me?" I guess the reason was that she was so pure. She was always quiet, sitting alone. She didn't deserve being harassed like that. When we were in elementary school, and Annabeth had just moved from Athens, she was completely different. Thalia had gotten a glimpse of that when she was yelling at Percy in class.

Annabeth looked up at me and smiled, tenderly. I walked over to her table.  
"Where are you going?" Silena asked as I walked away. Annabeth's eyes widened. I could tell she wasn't used to being noticed. I pulled up a chair and sat at her table.

"Hi," I smirked. Annabeth closed her book and looked up at me.  
"Hey." She replied. Reyna was hoisting up a chair next to me.  
"Hi, Bethy." Reyna smiled, which she never did. I had a sense that Reyna knew Annabeth for longer than I thought. "Hi, Reyna." Annabeth smiled coyly. Her gray eyes made her look wise and enchanting. Reyna motioned over Piper, Silena, and Hazel. The girls looked at each other, then stood up and walked over. They brought their chairs and soon, all of us were having a girl talk.

"So, I hear that you skipped a grade." Piper piped up (I had to, sorry).  
"Yes, I did. I skipped 7th grade." She said, barely over a whisper.  
"Okay, this is a big cafeteria, so you need to speak up." Reyna said.  
"Don't worry, we just want to talk." Piper added, smiling warmly.  
"So, Annabeth, why have I never seen you before?" Silena asked, though she probably knew the answer.  
"I'm, uh, not really a peoples person." Annabeth admitted, a little louder than before, which was an improvement. "I just enjoy silence and serenity. "I get that." I agreed. Before I started hanging out with my cousin and bro, I would enjoy being alone. Just pulling my headphones on and playing my music was all I needed.

"So, what was happening over there with Leo and Grover?" Silena questioned. I've been a little out of the loop lately."  
"So, everyone was chilling at Percy's place. We were chowing down on some pizza, and me and Jason were kissing in the corner of the room. Everyone else was oohing and aahing at us. Thalia piped up and told them to drop it for me. After that, Frank said, 'What, want us to charm you instead?' So, Grover and Leo made it their mission to get Thalia to go out with one of them." Piper explained. Again, the girls broke out laughing, except for Annabeth.

"Wow, sounds terrible," Silena said, teary from the laughter.  
"Yeah, at least it isn't Octavian's side squad. Seriously Annabeth, I feel terrible for you." I said.  
"Wait, they're hitting on you? Ugh." Hazel whined distastefully. "Just ignore them. Luke and those guys are total assholes." Reyna suggested. "Yeah, Annabeth. No one likes Octavian anyway." Silena added.  
"I do." A strong voice from behind us announced.

"Oh. Hi Drew." Hazel chimed up.  
"Hello, girls!" All the girls hugged, while I faked gagging from behind Drew. "And, hello Annabeth! I heard you had a problem with Luke! He feels really upset that you rejected him so rudely." Drew said.

 **Annabeth POV:**  
I was mortified. Drew Tanaka was talking to me, let alone six of the most popular girls in school. To set the scene, Drew is your typical high school drama queen. She was wearing a lace scarlet shirt with a black, knee length skirt. Her boots went up to her knees and were bright red.

"Rejected him?" Thalia scoffed. "I think Luke should be a little less abrasive when asking out girls."

"Oh, Thalia, don't even try to stand in my way right now." Drew pushed me out of my chair. "You little slut. You're so pathetic, wearing short and tight clothes to look cool. Well guess what, Luke noticing you was a gift you turned away. You're going to be sorry you ever even talked to these girls, and you are definitely going to stay away from us too. You were a ghost for a reason, Nerdabeth, don't forget that." Drew spat out at me. I picked myself up.

My shoulder ached from hitting the floor. I definitely hit my head as well, because it was pounding. I glanced over to see Octavian smirking at me. The girls (Hazel, Piper, Reyna, Thalia, Silena) were gaping in shock.

"Hey! Leave her alone." I gasped at their voice. I looked over and couldn't believe what my eyes saw.

 **So guys, that's it for this chapter! Comment if you want to ask something!**  
 **Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I couldn't help myself. I know Percabeth hasn't met yet or had any moments, but that'll all happen next chapter. OML, 3782 words! That's insane! I've written school papers that long! I hope you guys liked it.**  
 **Anyway, your girl signing off,**  
 **KHO.**


	3. Walk through the Arch

**Hey guys! So, instead of posting a story every week, I'm just going to post as often as I can. Once a week is the minimum, though I'll try to get out more chapters often. There's going to be way more Percabeth in this chapter than the last one, so, I hope you enjoy as always!**  
 **Annabeth POV:**  
"Hey! Leave her alone!" I gasped at their voice. Drew spun around and smiled.

"The bitch ain't even gonna know what hit her." Reyna smirked. I wondered what she meant by that. I looked up to see Percy glaring at Drew. His sea green eyes were full of rage, yet he seemed as if this was a normal thing. I knew it was a normal thing.

Drew Tanaka was a bully, so fights happened usually. Percy was the most popular, yet he was the biggest upstander. He was usually defending people from Drew. (If they deserved it,that is)  
"Percy, I'm not in the mood." Drew said, turning back to me.  
"Drew, get up, walk away." Percy said, his voice demanding. Drew looked conflicted. She didn't want to stand up, but it was Percy. And, she did have a crush on him.

"Why are you protecting this slut? You remember what she did to you, right?" Drew howled. Okay, that made actually no sense. I didn't even know Percy, so how could I have hurt him? The whole cafeteria went silent.

Percy whispered, though his tone was harsh, "Drew, I'm going to say it one last time. Get up, walk away. Don't make a scene."  
Drew stood up and walked out of the cafeteria, Calypso and Rachel following. Octavian ran to the door, then glared at Percy, then at me. "Drew had stood up for you, you know." He said, looking back at Percy. He ran out the doors, following Rachel and Calypso.

Percy walked over to me and kneeled down next to me. "Are you okay?" Percy asked me. His tone was more soothing now. He smelled distinctly like the ocean, salty and refreshing. His eyes bore into mine, full of concern and worry.  
"Yep. Isn't this how most people feel after being pushed off a chair by the most popular girl in your school with all your peers watching with anticipation?" I asked him, smiling gently.

"I guess. Never happened to me before." He smiled back. He offered me his hand to pull me up. I grabbed his hand, feeling his warmth surge through me. After standing for approximately 1.2 seconds, I stumbled backwards.  
Percy caught me, holding me in his arms. "Well, I guess you aren't going to be walking to your next class." He chuckled. I stood/lied there dumfounded. Percy Jackson just scared Drew the big, bad witch away, asked me if I was okay, and caught me as if I was Cinderella or something.

"Guess not..." I mumbled. The girls were rushing up to us. "Oh my gods, are you alright Annabeth? Jeez, Drew is out of her mind!" Thalia said, standing in front of me with the girls and guys. "Yeah, you might want to head to the nurse." Jason suggested. I wanted to scream, _No! Why is everyone paying attention to me today? Why can't I return to the shadows?_  
"Good idea." I replied. I got off of Percy and walked to the door. As soon as I took a step, I winced in pain. My knees buckled underneath me and I fell again. This time, Reyna caught me.

"Okay, maybe one of us should take you." Grover said. This time, I wanted to scream, _Why am I so helpless? I can't even walk myself to the nurse? I've handled worse pain than this!  
_  
"I'll go." Percy said. "I have a reputation of getting late to class, might as well be late for a reason." He smirked. Percy put his hand around my waist and pulled my arm around his shoulder. We walked to the nurse while he asked me questions.

"So, what did you do to piss off Drew?" He asked me.  
"I, uh..." Wait a second. What did I do to piss off Drew? I technically didn't do anything! Not directly at least. "I forgot to wear suspenders." I summed up. It probably made sense to me, but he was rightfully confused.  
"Okay... Seems like a good reason." He said jokingly. I chuckled and he did too.  
"Ow," I said, "It hurts to laugh."

"Jesus, Drew messed you up pretty good, huh." He said to me. "Well, we're here." Percy and I stopped at the nurse's office. He opened the door for me and helped me in.

To be honest, I had never been to the nurse's office. It was extremely clean for one. On the left was a closet full of extra clothes. To the right was the nurse's desk. There was a computer and a lot of papers, mostly student records. In front of me, Travis Stoll sat down with a bloody nose, and a box of tissues. Next to him, his girlfriend, Katie, was holding a bin for him to throw the tissues into. The nurse appeared out of a closet.

"Hello there! Percy, how can I help you and..." The nurse looked at me.  
"Annabeth Chase." I filled in.

"Ah, Annabeth. Your name does get around. Quite the student you are." She smiled. "Anyway, I am Mrs. Hebe. How can I help you?" She asked, smiling.  
"I was pushed out of my chair in the lunch room. And, uh, I can't walk." I said.  
"Hmm... Drew?" She asked, looking at Percy.  
"Yep." He responded. Did this happen to most girls? He acted as if this whole thing was natural.

"Okay then. Sit here, darling." Mrs. Hebe pointed to a chair next to Katie. "Percy, will you be staying with Ms. Chase?" She requested.

"Um, that depends on Ms. Chase." He said, looking for my permission. Damn, I really wanted him to stay. Would that make me selfish? Urgh, why are his sea green eyes so irresistible?  
"If you want to." I said, hoping he would stay. He thought for a moment.  
"Alright. I'll stay." He smiled, looking at Mrs. Hebe.

"Okay then. You two, stay here. I'll be back in a moment with my supplies. Oh, and Travis, Katie, you two may head back to class." Mrs. Hebe left the room. Travis and Katie got up and left behind her.  
"Just you and me now Ms. Chase." He said, grinning. I smiled back.  
I felt butterflies in my stomach. Dang it, why do I even like him? He's so immature and annoying! Though, I already knew the answer.

"So, when Drew asked you if you remembered what I did to you..." I asked.

"I guess she was bluffing. Clearly, we don't know each other." Percy stated. I mean, it didn't seem like something Drew would make up, but, it was Drew. We sat in silence for a minute. I tried to reflect on what was happening. Percy was in the nurse's office with me. Percy, frickin', Jackson. What happened today?

"I guess." The nurse opened the door and came in with her supplies.

"Okay, I'm back honey." Mrs. Hebe kneeled down next to my chair. "Can you take off that sweater, please?" I immediately felt nervous, especially with Percy here. I had always felt insecure about my body. This year especially, after the apparent growth spurt. Percy was in perfect shape with a perfect body. Reluctantly, I pulled off the blue sweater around my waist and tried to avoid eye contact with Percy. I could tell he was looking away too, which helped me relax a little more. Mrs. Hebe handed him the sweater so she had both hands free.

I looked down at my skin. It was red and scraped; just looking at it made it worse.

"Ouchies, Drew got you good." Mrs. Hebe remarked. She picked up a wet cotton ball with her gloves on. "This might sting."

Pain seared across my stomach. My eyes watered and I winced in pain.  
I looked down and saw Percy hold my hand, and honestly, the pain hurt a little less. At least I had something else to think about. I winced again and squeezed his hand. Holding his hand gave me a sense of security.

"Okay, all done. Let me put some cream on it, and I'll wrap it up." Mrs. Hebe stood up and walked over to her desk to get some items.

"Hey, don't worry. You're going to be fine. The hard part's over now." Percy chanted. I was grateful for that. Mrs. Hebe came back with the supplies. She rubbed some of the cream onto my bruise, and wrapped it in gauze.  
"Alright, you're good to go! Let me write you both a pass. Also, I'm going to need to call your mother Annabeth. Can you give me her number?"

She asked me, getting up and walking to her phone. My heart stopped. No. Not now. I tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come out. I could feel it getting harder to breathe.  
"I, uh..." I started to tear up. Why was this happening now? I looked down at my necklace and held it. I felt a little better. "I can give you my dad's..." I whispered. The nurse seemed to understand. I didn't dare look at Percy. I was so ashamed.

"Don't worry, I can find it on here." Mrs. Hebe turned to her computer and began typing something. Tears streamed down my face.

"Hey, don't cry," Percy spoke softly. He handed me a tissue from the box nearby and I took it graciously. I started wiping my eyes with it. I looked at Percy. "I know parent troubles. My parents are divorced." He admitted. "Wow, I can't believe I told you that." I sympathized with Percy. It was nice to know he could understand what I was feeling.

"I don't tell many people my parent troubles either." I murmured.  
"Your secret's safe with me, Ms. Chase." He smirked.  
"Same here."  
Mrs. Hebe handed the both of us passes to class. "You might be limping for today, but it'll heal. Have a nice day you two!" She grinned and sat back down at her desk. Percy and I stood up and left the nurse's office.  
"So, what're you going to do about Drew?" He asked me as we walked back to class.

"I don't know. I thought I would just keep my distance." I really didn't want to make a big deal out of this. I've been noticed quite enough for today.  
"Seems like a good idea. Bringing it up with the counselor would most likely cause a ruckus." A couple seconds passed before I asked him.

"Why-" I thought for a second and Percy looked at me. "Why are you talking to me?"  
"What? Why wouldn't I?" He frowned, making him look like a sad puppy dog. A really cute puppy dog. Chase, snap out of it this instant!

"Well, you never really have. You didn't even know who I was in class." I looked down at the floor, studying the tile patterns.

"Maybe I wanted to get to know you!"  
"Maybe?" I questioned.

"Okay, fine. I felt guilty. You seemed upset after I teased you in class." Percy stopped walking and looked at me. I could feel myself turning red. I wasn't upset because of him! It was because he called me Annie Bell!  
"Don't worry about that. I just don't like being called Annie Bell." I said, timidly playing with the strings on my sweatshirt .(now crop-top I guess)

"Fine. I'll find you the perfect nickname." He smiled.  
"It's fine re-"  
"OOH, OWL FACE!" He flashed me a goofy grin. I couldn't help but smile back.  
"Um, no."

"I'll get it sooner or later." I had a feeling he was going to hawk me on this for a while. Is it bad that I felt happy about that?  
We approached the classroom. Percy held the door open, "After you, Ms. Chase." I blushed and stepped through the door, still limping may I add.

"Late on the first day?" The teacher asked me. "Oh..." She glanced at the cast on my stomach.  
"Yeah..." I walked over and handed her my pass, limping in front of the class. She quickly read over it. Percy handed his after me.

"Alright. Take your seats, you two." She dismissed us to our seats. I hobbled over to my seat with everyone whispering behind me.

"Okay, back to the topic at hand." And that's the last thing I heard before dozing off. The next thing I heard was the bell ringing at the end of the day.

"Wake up, sunshine. Class ended 3 minutes ago." My head jolted up. Percy was standing next to my desk.  
"I'm definitely not sunshine right now." I groaned, getting out of my seat. I hung my backpack around me. Percy walked with me outside.

It was cool outside. The breeze felt good, but I was also really cold for some reason. I glanced down at my clothes. Never mind, I know why!  
Percy looked over. "Oh right! I almost forgot." Percy zipped his bag open and handed me Alice's sweater. Well, I guess it's mine now.

"Thanks," I accepted the sweater. I pulled off my bag and Percy held it for me. Wow. Sometimes, Percy could be a gentleman. I slid on the sweater. It felt warm and comfy, the perfect thing for Alice to wear.

"So, see you tomorrow, princess." Percy smiled and walked towards the populars. I chuckled.  
"See ya tomorrow, fish face." Percy turned around, shocked. "Fish face?"  
"It's a work in progress."

"Good enough." He smiled, and he almost seemed proud for a minute. As Percy walked away, I ducked into the crowd, hoping to avoid Luke again.  
I jumped on the bus and pulled out my phone. I clicked on my playlist and "Stronger" by Kelly Clarkson came on. It was one of my favorite songs.

* * *

When I reached my bus stop, I guess I had zoned out, because it felt like I had just got on the bus. I hopped of the bus, Noah behind me (ew, creep alert).  
I limped back home and froze in fear at my driveway. I forgot the Mrs. Hebe called my dad! He was probably freaking out right now!

My keys were dangling from my necklace, as usual, and I unlocked the door. On cue, my father rushed out of the kitchen.

"Annabeth! Oh thank the gods, I was worried sick! Get in here, now!" I pulled my key out of the lock and hobbled into my house. "What happened? I mean, the nurse told me you were pushed by some girl!"

I told my dad the story of how Evil Queen Drew felt threatened because I didn't wear suspenders, and she pushed me in the lunch room, publically humiliating me. I didn't mention the part about Percy because, well, he wasn't the chill dad type when it came to boys. He was more the 'I'm going to lock you in a castle like Rapunzel so no boys can hurt you' type.

"Princess, that sucks." My dad huffed. "Are you going to tell the principal?"  
I looked at him with my, 'Please don't make me' face and he rolled his eyes.  
"I didn't think so." We stopped for a minute. "Don't worry, I won't make you. I get it." He gave me a weak smile, which I valued.

"Nice sweater."  
"Alice gave it to me."  
"Ah, I remember you telling me about that." He sighed. "I can tell you're going to miss her."  
"Yeah, things on the bus won't be the same without her." Without Alice, who was going to chase Noah away at the bus stop? Who was going to sit next to me on the bus? (Please, not Noah.)

"Hey princess."  
"Yeah?"  
"Can I see it?"  
I reluctantly pulled off Alice's sweater to reveal the cast the nurse had put on me. My dad's eyes filled with worry.  
"The nurse said I could take it off tomorrow morning and she would check it out during school." I added to, hopefully, raise his spirits.

"Good." He sighed and raked his hand through his hair. "Look, honey, I know you wanted the first day of school to go differently. Maybe that Thalia girl could become your friend? I'm just saying, maybe this could become a positive thing for you." That's one reason I loved my dad. He could always look on the bright side when things seemed darkest.

Zzzt, Zzzt. My phone buzzed.

"Well, I'll let you get back to your things." My dad walked back to the kitchen.  
"Wait." I said.

My dad turned, "Yes, pumpkin?"

I raced into him and wrapped him in a tight hug. "I love you."  
A tear fell on my shoulder. "I love you too, buttercup," he whispered.  
I pulled my shoes off and rushed into my room. My bag slid off my shoulders, into the corner of my room as I threw my sweater onto a chair and fell on my bed.

Zzzt, Zzzt. My phone buzzed again. I pulled it out of my pocket. The notification read, "Messages: Sunace" I giggled and unlocked my phone.

 **Sunace: Hey, are we meeting today?**  
 **Sunace: Helloooooooooooooooooooooo?**  
I giggled and responded back.  
 **Me: Hey, Will! Sorry I was busy, I was talking to my dad.**  
 **Sunace: Ooh, break the news yet?**  
 **Me: The nurse called him at school.**  
 **Sunace: While you were at her office?**  
 **Me: Yep Sunace: With Percy?**  
 _Urgh, why Will? Now I'm turning into a tomato again!_  
 **Me:** Maybe.  
Sunace: **Don't even. About every person in your class told everyone.**  
 _Dang it. Talk about under the radar._  
 **Me: Oh nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu**  
 **Sunace: Oh yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee**  
 **Me: Urgh.**  
 **Sunace: So, we meeting or what bc I'm outside ur** window.  
I limped to my window and pulled open the shades to reveal an annoying Will Solace, smirking at me outside. I stuck my tounge out at him.  
 **Me: Coming, gotta tell dad first. Idk if he'll even let me.**  
 **Sunace: If he doesn't, I'm coming in. I'm determined to question you about what the hades happened in that lunchroom.**  
 **Me: Lol, ok.**  
 **Sunace: Btw, bring my kazie back!  
**  
I walked to my desk and picked up the red kazoo, then, I left my room and headed for the stairs. Going down the stairs was a lot easier than going up them. Once I got down, I went up to dad.  
He was reading over some papers, probably tests from school, grading them with a red pen.  
"Dad?"  
"Yes, sweetie?" My dad looked up from his paper.  
"Can I go meet a friend outside?"  
"Friend?" He asked, suddenly interested. "Who is she?"  
"He."  
"WHAT?" Dad stood up from his chair.  
"No, it's just Will." I reassured him.  
"Ohhhhhhhhhhh, okay." My dad sighed, a lot more relaxed. "Tell him I said hi!"

"No problem." I slid on my white, buckle sandals and opened the door to see an impatient Will Solace about to knock.  
"There you are! I was about to beg your dad to let me in!" Will whined. Will was wearing his usual mint green sweater and blue jeans. His blonde hair was messy, as per usual.  
"Here I am! My dad says hi, by the way. Where are we walking to? Well, more like limping for me."  
"Hi to your dad. Arch?" He requested.  
"Arch." I smiled and walked with him.

"Where's my Kazie?" Will demanded.  
"Only if you ask nicely." I smiled and skipped in front of him.  
"Please, give me my Kazie back!" He smiled.  
"Oh, fine." I handed him the kazoo and put it up to his lips. "Ptwoo, Ptwoo, Ptwoo." Will started to play his kazoo. When he was done, I applauded.  
"Bravo, Will! You were simply outstanding." I said in a posh voice.  
"Why, thank you madam. Honestly, no one appreciates my music."

I looked at Will and we both cracked up. Will stopped and started to turn red. he was looking at something up ahead.  
Scratch that, someone up ahead. Thalia and a boy walked ahead of us. Wow, Thalia was just everywhere today.

"Hey, Beth!" Thalia waved at me and she and the boy walked towards us.  
"Hi, Thalia!" I smiled. I was getting somewhat used to talking to people. Thalia was wearing the same thing from this morning. The boy was wearing a skull shirt and a black jacket. He was also wearing black pants, so, a lot of black there.

"Wait, why are they coming here, and how does she know you?" Will whispered.  
"Long story, tell you later."  
Thalia and Nico were in front of us. "Hi Bethy! Nico, this is Annabeth. Annabeth, this is Nico, one of my friends. He's in 10th grade, so we don't see him in the hallways too much.  
"Nice to meet you, Nico."  
"You too, Bethy." Nico smirked and I did too.  
"Thalia, Nico, this is my friend, Will Solace."

"Ah, Will! I knew you looked familiar. I saw you performing at the Mount. Talent Show. You're pretty good at singing." Nico looked at Will, then at the ground.  
"Oh. Thank you." Will smiled sheepishly, then looked at the ground also. Those two just met, and they might already be my favorite OTP.

"Where are you guys going?" Thalia asked.  
"Oh, we're going to this place we like to hang out. We call it the "Arch" because it looks like, well, an arch. There's this little bridge, and we just hide underneath it and talk.

"Wow, sounds fun. Mind if we tag along?" Thalia asked.  
"No problem." I smiled. Thalia was actually pretty fun to talk to.  
"Y-yeah, it'll, uh, be great to have you." Will stuttered. Thalia chuckled, "Don't worry, man. I felt the same way when I met Nico too." Will and Nico's faces turned red.  
"Thaliaaa," Nico gritted his teeth.

 **Will POV:  
**  
Thalia laughed. "Okay, let's move people." Thalia walked next to Annabeth, while I walked next to Nico behind them.  
"So, how did you meet Annabeth?" Thalia asked me as we walked to the arch.

"Um, well, in, uh..." I took a deep breath. "I've known her since she moved to the neighborhood. I didn't have many friends, and Annabeth seemed really fun, in a nerdy way."

"Watch it, sunshine." Annabeth spun around and stuck her tounge out at me. I did the same. Nico and Thalia laughed at us. "Wow, you two must be really tight." Thalia observed.

"Like a knot in rope." Annabeth smiled. I smiled back. Annabeth was one of my closest friends. She made coming out a safer place for me. I was bullied a lot, but Annabeth always knew how to cheer me up. "Hey, we're here."

I stumbled ahead of Annabeth and sat under the arch. There was a little wooden chest that I opened. Inside were tons of little instruments I loved to play.

"Woah," Nico said, sitting inside the arch with Thalia and Annabeth. "Yeah, no one really comes down here, so we just leave things to play with." Annabeth explained. I picked up a harmonica and blew into it, creating a lovely noise.  
Annabeth took her little white board out and used her classiest voice.  
She scribbled a number onto it with an expo marker, "I give it a 6/10. Come on, Will. You've played better." I playfully shoved her. Thalia and Nico laughed again.

"So, what do you guys do for fun?" I asked, putting my harmonica and Annabeth's board and marker back into the chest.  
"Well, I love listening to music, doing archery, pl-"  
"Wait, you like archery?" I interjected.  
"Yeah, do you?"  
"Yeah! I practice all the time! I even have a target at my house!"  
"Wow! I feel like no one does archery anymore." Thalia sighed.  
"Yeah, it's nice to see at least some people do." I smiled. Thalia seemed really different than she actually was, with the spikey jacket, and the dark aura. She was pretty cool actually.

"So, what do you do for fun, Will?" Thalia asked me. "Well, archery for one. I like being in the sun-"  
"Which is why I call him Sunace on my phone," Annabeth cut in.  
"Wait, really?" I asked. I had never gotten a pet name before. "Here," Annabeth unlocked her phone and showed me my name on messages.  
"Wow." I laughed and continued. "I also am very musical, as you could tell. I play about every instrument and I am a pretty good singer." When you hear about me, I sound cool, but I was sorted into 'the theater kid' pretty quickly as a kid.

"Hey, Nico, what do you do for fun?" Annabeth asked.  
Nico looked up. I guess he had spaced out or something. "Oh. I, uh. I don't really know."  
"Don't lie Nico! You know you love that mythy card game!" Thalia screeched.  
"Thalia, shut, up." Nico glared at Thalia, who broke up in laughter.

"I USED to like Mythomagic. I grew out of it, okay?" Nico huffed and looked away. I giggled too. "What, have something to say, Sunace?"

"Nope." I said, still giggling. "Do you, magician?"  
Thalia laughed again. "Magician? Wow, you should write some of my material!"  
I looked up and it was turning dark outside. "Guys, my parents said to be back by dark."

"Oh. I'll come with you, Will. You guys can stay here and talk." Annabeth stood up.  
"Okay then. See you guys at school tomorrow." Thalia said behind us.  
"Toodles!" Annabeth smiled and skipped with me back home.

 **Annabeth POV:**  
"Ok then. See you guys at school tomorrow." Thalia said behind us. Was I going to see them tomorrow? I wanted to, but that was enough drama for one day. What would happen if this went on the rest of the year? I might've been in a full body cast!

"Toodles!" I gave my best smile and skipped over to Will. "So... Are we going to talk about that?"  
"Talk about what?" Will asked me, putting on his most innocent face.  
"You know what. That whole 'magician' stunt. You haven't been that confident in a while!" I remarked. Will stayed quiet. "Will, do you like him?"

"I-" He sighed. "I'm not sure. I haven't really had a crush on anyone."  
I wish I could help him. I had no idea what Will was feeling right now. Well, I kinda did.  
"When did you first see him?" I asked, having nothing else to.

"Well, I first saw him at the talent show. He was by himself, but he was staring at me. I-I got nervous, which I haven't in a really long time." We walked in silence for a moment. "Speaking of meeting for the first time, I need you to tell me a couple things. 1) What the hades happened in that cafeteria? 2) What's happening with Percy? 3) Why did the Devil push you off that chair?

I explained to Will what happened in the cafeteria, the nurse's office (not the divorced part with Percy), and what happened with Luke and Drew. There was an uncomfortable silence after that.

"Annabeth, I'm so sorry. You didn't deserve that." Will stopped and gave me a hug. I hugged him back. "Screw them." I smiled. Will's hugs felt almost healing.  
We walked until we reached my house.

"See you tomorrow, Bethy."  
"See you tomorrow, Sunace." Will smiled and left for his house.  
I walked to my door and pulled off my key. I turned the key into the door and stepped inside, attaching the key back to my necklace.

"Princess? Come here for dinner!" My dad called from the kitchen. I limped over the kitchen and sat at the table. We had mac & cheese, as we usually did. My dad sat down and ate with me.  
"Big day, huh?" My dad grinned at me.  
"The biggest." I smiled back, shoving a forkful of mac & cheese down my throat.

"Did you tell Will I said hi?" He asked.  
"He says hi back."  
"Where did you two go?"

I giggled a little. "Funny story, we met Thalia and her friend on the sidewalk and we showed them the arch."  
"Wow, so, you met Thalia again? Maybe she will become your friend after all!" My dad exclaimed.  
"Maybe..." I smiled. Maybe, I would see Thalia at school tomorrow! Maybe, we would become friends! Maybe, I should stop starting sentences with maybe.

Me and dad finished our food and went up to bed. I set out my clothes and made sure that they were way too big. (Not suspenders, but good enough.) I flopped into my bed and lied there. Dad opened the door.

"Hey, pumpkin." He came and tucked me in.  
"Dad, I'm way too old for you to tuck me into bed." I smiled up at him.  
"Well, you'll never get too old to be my daughter." He kissed me on the forehead and turned off the lights. "Goodnight, sweetie."  
"Sweet dreams." And I was out cold.

 **HEY PEOPLE! So, this took a while bc the whole chapter is 4956 words long (which is long for me).**  
 **Hope you liked the chapter, because it was really fun to write. SOLANGELOOOO!**  
 **(sorry, I needed to, lol)**  
 **Your girl, KHO.**


	4. Frazel?

**Sup, peeps. It was really hard to write this chapter! Urgh, I wish I could automatically make Percabeth friends. Easing into it is really unnatural. Anyway, because I'm getting Annabeth more into the 'group' with all the others, POV's will change a lot easier. I just wanted to add, the dates and holidays might be tweaked for story purposes (I might move up Halloween, even though it's September and Halloween is in October). Ps. Are the chapters too long, bc I can shorten them if you guys want.**  
 **Without further ado, let the chapter begin!**

 **Annabeth POV:  
**  
I woke up to the light of day. "Beep, beep! Beep, beep!" I hit the off button. Too slow, alarm clock. My clothes were at the foot my bed, shining in the sunlight. I threw off my comforter and peeled off my cast. The scar was red, but didn't hurt nearly as much as yesterday. Mrs. Hebe was right, it healed pretty quick. Walking was easy, so I didn't need to limp anymore.

I headed into the bathroom for a shower. Showers had always cleared my head, washing away my dreams from the night, and preparing me for the day. Face it Chase, nothing's gonna prepare you for today.

I pulled on my clothes, grateful to see that they were decent. I wore a orange hoodie and gray jeans, hopefully, to pull attention away from my gray eyes. My hair was done up in a ponytail, and I stuck on my glasses. My bag was in the corner of the room, which I grabbed before going downstairs.

"I was just going to call you." My dad said as I approached the kitchen table.  
"I got up early today." I smiled. I actually felt really refreshed.  
"Feeling better?" My dad asked. "I can see you're not limping anymore."  
"Yep. I took the cast off upstairs." I looked down to see some Cheerios in a bowl with milk. I grabbed a spoon and ate with my dad.

"I see your fashion sense has returned," My dad said smirking.  
"Oh haha." I said sarcastically. "It feels a lot better though. Those other clothes weren't me."  
"Good. I want you to feel comfortable. Always." My dad smiled.  
"Thanks." I smiled back.  
"Even though you're glasses still aren't you."  
"DAD!" I scoffed. He broke up in laughter as I rolled my eyes.

 **(If you couldn't tell, their relationship can be really goofy and sweet at some times.)  
**  
"Sorry, I had to. Your bus will be here soon, so hurry up." My dad urged.  
"Okay, okay, jeez. I'm almost done." I drank the remaining milk in my bowl and hugged dad.  
"Bye, honey. Have a nice day at school!" My dad shouted as I ran for the door.  
"You too!" I replied, picking up my bag and closing the door behind me.

The bus still wasn't there yet, but Noah was. I walked over, pulling out my phone and pretending to be doing something important.

"Sorry, by the way."  
I looked up from my phone. "What?"  
"Sorry for, uh, being rude to you and all that." He gulped. I was a little confused. Why was Noah sorry? He had never been sorry for anything in his life.  
"Um, okay? Why are you apologizing?"  
"Because, I was rude to you yesterday at the bus stop and at school. I was just following Luke." He looked as if he was trying to remember something.  
"Did Luke tell you to apologize to me?" I questioned.  
"Well, um, he said that he, uh, was really, uh..." Noah looked as if he was about to spontaneously combust. "He said to externalize my feelings."  
"You mean Luke's feelings." I summed up.  
"Yes. No, I mean..."

The bus came rolling by, _(YAY, MY ESCAPE,)_ and I hopped on, far away from Noah.  
Why did Luke tell him to apologize? Did he feel bad for what happened at lunch yesterday? Was he trying to embarrass Noah? I had so many questions, that by the time I looked up, a kid has sat next to me. I immediately thought it was Noah, but to my surprise, it was someone else.

"Hey, Bethy." It was Nico. He was wearing a dark, eggplant color shirt and khaki pants. His jet black hair was ruffled up, and his dark brown eyes looked troubled. He was smiling at me, which I was guessing didn't usually happen.  
"Hi, magician." I smirked at Nico and he looked away and scoffed.

"I can't believe that friend of yours, what, Will? The nerve on him..." I giggled and he glared at me. "What?"  
"You two seem like opposites."

"And that is funny because?"  
"No reason." I said, thinking, Opposites attract!  
Next stop, Will hopped on the bus and sat across from us. He was wearing a bright yellow shirt and maroon jeans. His hair looked semi-neat today, which was an upgrade at the least.

"Hey, Bethy, Magician." Will pulled off his bag and threw it on his lap.  
"Hey, Sunace." Nico and I said, then started laughing together. Nico's laugh was quiet, yet made you smile. Like, if Nico was smiling, there had to be a good reason.

"Only Annabeth can call me that." Will huffed.  
"Fine, only Annabeth can call me magician." Nico countered.  
"Nu uh, I came up with magician, that's not fair."  
"So what, if Thalia hadn't said anything, you wouldn't have even known."  
"True, but she did say it."  
"Yeah, and Annabeth said Sunace, so I can too." (By the way guys, KHO here, the way to pronounce Sunace is [so?on-as], (Like, soon ace).

Watching the two of them squabble made me think of my grammy and grandpa fighting over where they should take our family first, the Erechtheum or Acropolis as a kid when I was on vacation. Aww, they were so cute together. Just like Will and Nico.

"Okay, okay, break it up, the day just began and I don't want a headache already." I groaned.  
"Fine, whatever," Will mumbled, "Magician."  
"SUNACE!"  
"DEATH BREATH!"  
"SUNSHINE!"  
"GHOST KING!"  
"SHUT UP!" I screamed.

"Hey, we're just having some fun." Will said.  
"Yeah, Annabeth, way to ruin the fun." Nico added.

 _Hey, it's better if it's me rather than them to be honest.  
_  
The bus came to a halt and we had reached school. The doors opened and I pulled on my backpack and jumped out of the bus behind Nico. Will followed behind me. Thalia was waiting for us outside.

"Hey, Bethy, Magician." Thalia smiled. She wore a dark turquoise shirt and a jean jacket with dark blue jeans. Her hair was frizzy with a streak of silver and her eyes were electric blue as always.  
"When will you let that go?" Nico asked her, walking towards the school with Will and me following.  
"Never."

We walked right up to Piper and Jason talking. Piper was wearing a velvety pink shirt with short jeans. Hair was done in a braid with a small feather poking out at the end. Jason was wearing a blue half-sleeve T-shirt and cargo pants. His blond hair was neatly combed and you could barely see the little scar on his lip. I'll admit, Jason and Piper were really adorable together.

"Sup, Neecs. Sup, Sis." Jason smiled.  
"Sup, Sparky. Where's Leo... never mind." Nico trailed off and looked past Jason and Piper. Leo was talking to Calypso and grinning wildly.

"Hey, bro. Where's Reyna?" Thales asked.  
"Oh, she went to laugh at something." Piper smiled, "She was getting pretty bored with me and Jason. Hi, Annabeth!"  
"Hey, Piper." I responded.

"Oh, call me Pipes. All my friends do." Piper just called me her friend. Oh my gods, was I dreaming, one of the prettiest girls in school said I was her friend.  
"Okay... Hey, Pipes." I stammered.

"Ah, much better. Who's that behind you?" She asked.  
"Oh, this is Will. Will, meet, well, you know Piper and Jason." I introduced them.  
"Hey, Will." Jason waved and then screamed, "PERCE, G-MAN, REYNA, GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!" I turned around to see Percy, Grover, and Reyna all talking a couple feet away. They all started walking to us.

"Hostile today, are we Sparky?" Percy asked, messing up Jason's hair. Jason grunted, then elbowed Percy away. "Hi guys... Plus Beth and Neecs." Percy grinned at me and I grinned back.  
"And... Who is that behind you?" Percy asked.

"Percy, meet Will. Will, Percy." I introduced again.  
"Ah, Will! You're the reigning Mount. Talent Show winner! Nice voice you got there, you'd be a great vocalist."  
"Thanks." He smiled. He looked a lot less worried. "Oh, Meg's probably looking for me, I should go." Will ran away, literally.

"Meg?" Grover asked.  
"Family friend. Her dad and Apollo, Will's dad, are pretty close. Meg is basically Will's sister." I explained. Silena and Charlie came running up to us.

"What up, guys. I got held up on the bus... Some stupid ass kids were fighting in the back." Charlie said, holding Silena's hand. Charlie was wearing an orange T-shirt and ripped black jeans. I never understood why people wore ripped jeans, it's just destroyed clothing. Though I could sense the tears on Charlie's jeans weren't intentional.

"Yeah, I was busy with Drew. Wouldn't leave me the hell alone." Silena added. She was wearing a dark purple, checkered shirt with a flowy yellow skirt. Her hair was flawless in a high pony and her blue eyes glistened in the light.  
"No probs. Just met some friend of Beth's, Will Solace." Thalia said.

"Huh, sounds nice. Anyway, school's starting so vamoose people!" Silena pushed us to class as she was still intertwined with Charlie. Everyone went their separate ways, though most of us had the same class next.

I walked into Mr. Brunner's class and sat in my seat. I pulled out my things and read my book while twirling a strand of my hair around my finger. The rest of the gang came in after me, laughing and talking extremely loud.  
"You need to leave her alone man. She's part of Drew's gang for a reason." Piper advised as she sat down next to me.  
"I thought it was called "Beauty Queens: TGFY"." Leo said.

"Yeah, TGFY: Too Good For You. Calypso is off limits right now." Reyna said.  
"Challenge accepted." Leo smirked and Reyna and Piper rolled their eyes.  
"Hey, if that's what Leo wants," Percy grinned, "That's what Leo wants." Leo and Percy did their bro handshake I'm assuming, and class started.

 **Jason POV:  
**  
Leo and Percy did their weird handshake, as always, and sat down to face the front. Class started about a minute later. I felt a tapping on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Piper looking at the wall, facing away from me with her, 'Huh, what, wasn't me', face. I rolled my eyes and turned back around to the front. I felt her tapping again, but I didn't turn around. I just smiled and brushed it off. A small paper was pushed onto my desk from behind me.

Without turning around, I picked up the paper and read it: _Love you, can't stop bothering you. -Pipes_

I felt a surge of warmth go through me. Piper was the only one who made me feel that way. I picked up my pen and wrote back: _Love you too, save it for lunch! -Sparky_

I folded the paper up and threw it back to Piper. I could tell she showed Thalia because they were both silently laughing. Those two... They were always so close. My sister just had that effect on people. Reyna, Silena, and Hazel were also pretty close friends of Thales, but those two just had a spark.

Then, I heard a voice, different to me. I turned to see Pipes, Thales, and Annabeth talking. I didn't know who Annabeth was, but she seemed nice enough. To start, she was the opposite of Perce.

Percy - Annabeth  
Open - Closed  
Confident - Shy  
Gullible - Cunning  
Rude (no offense man) - Kind

The list went on. Though, I can see the two of them together. I looked over and saw Percy sneaking glancing at Annabeth.  
Aww, the stupid head already has a crush. Though, he better not hurt this girl like, well, basically every girl.

I tried to stay focused, only 10 minutes left of class. Mr. Brunner was talking about Roman history. "Alright, lets finish up with Roman gods. In Greek mythology, there is a council of Olympians. Who can name these gods in their Roman form?" Mr. Brunner looked around class. The girls and boys in the front were passing notes, and Thales, Reyna and Valdez were discussing some 'very important' topics like, 'Why Calypso is off limits' and 'Stop giggling Thales, you're ruining the moment'. Perce, Piper and Annabeth were thinking up some new and improved nicknames for Annabeth.

"Percy Jackson. Can you tell me the names of the Roman gods on the council?" Mr. Brunner looked impatiently at Percy.  
"I thought the Greeks had a council, not the Romans." Percy looked confused. Come on Perce.

Mr. Brunner sighed. I honestly felt bad for the guy. No one listened to what he said. He glanced over at me.

"Jason Grace. Can you tell me the names of the Roman gods on the council?" He looked like he knew what I was going to say.  
"Um..." I thought for a second, "Jupiter, Juno, Ceres, Diana, Apollo, Mars, Mercury, Minerva, Venus, Neptune, Bacchus, and Vulcan." The class was stunned. I looked around and Leo's jaw hit the table. The only people unsurprised were Pipes, Perce, Thales, and Annabeth.

"Wow! That's correct! Some people say that Pluto was part of the twelve instead of Vulcan in different myths, and Vesta did opt-out of the council, giving her place up to Bacchus! Jason, stick around after class." Mr. Brunner had a look on his face. Proud, yet confused, which was my face too.

"Anyway..." Mr. Brunner continued the lesson. How did I get that right? I mean, I am pretty knowledgeable with mythology, but I hadn't studied at all this summer. The answers just popped into my head!

Leo whispered from in front of Reyna, "Bro, the hades was that?"  
I whispered back, "I have no fucking clue."  
Piper and Annabeth started giggling, but Leo still looked a little baffled.  
"Clearly, he cheated." Leo smirked.  
"Ah, just because you cheat Valdez, doesn't mean everyone else needs to." Perce shrugged and all of us started shouting, "ROASTED!"

Before Mr. Brunner could yell at us to shut it, the bell rang and everyone ran out of class.  
"See you later, Sparky. Have fun with that." Leo patted Jason on the head and ran away.

I gulped and walked towards the front.  
"Hey." I turned around and saw Annabeth standing behind me. "Don't worry about it. Mr. Brunner isn't that bad. He just wants to congratulate you."  
"Thanks." I sighed, "That helps."

Annabeth walked out of the classroom, clutching her books. Hey, she isn't that bad. She almost reminded me of Pipes when I first met her.

I walked up to the desk, "You wanted to see me, Mr. Brunner?" Mr. Brunner looked up from his paper and smiled at me.  
"Yes, I wanted to ask you if you knew anything about Rome before this lesson."  
"Well," I responded, "My father walked out on me and my sister very young, so it's just us and our mom. She, uh, isn't the most..." Mr. Brunner put his hand up like, it's fine. "Before he left, dad would tell us both about Roman myths. Thalia wasn't that interested, but I loved hearing about it," I finished.

"Wow, that's great! Mythology is very important, it tells us a lot about that culture. It's nice to see that you enjoy it. Well, Jason, you should get to class." Mr. Brunner wrote me up a pass and I left to my next class.

 **Hazel POV:**

Class had just ended and we were heading to the cafeteria for lunch. Frank walked next to me. He was wearing a red T-shirt and beige jeans. He had just gotten a new hair cut and his brown eyes were shimmering. He saw me looking at him.

"What?"  
"Nothing." I looked away and grabbed his hand. We held hands till we reached the lunch room.  
The gang was chilling at our usual table. Frank and I walked over, holding our lunches.

"Hey, Frazel." Piper smiled warmly.  
"Frazel?" Frank asked, sitting at the table.  
"Frank and Hazel! It's your ship name." Piper had actually set us up on a first date after we kissed. Our first kiss was after we got into a huge fight too, mostly about him being jealous of Leo. He admitted his feelings and we kissed (well, I kissed him.)

I rolled my eyes and sat down next to her and Frank. Soon, everyone had arrived at the table.  
Pipes introduced a new topic to the table, "So, we have a project in Writing! Who are you guys with?"

"I'm with Grover." Thalia sighed.  
"YEAH, BABY! EAT THAT LEO, SHE'S WITH ME!" Grover stuck his tounge out and Leo laughed at him.  
"I have Sparky." Reyna said.  
"I got Annabeth." Frank said. I wasn't worried, Annabeth seemed pretty trustworthy.  
"I've got Hazey." Leo smirked. "Shut up, Leo." I said. Leo frowned with his puppy dog eyes and I laughed. I glanced at Frank. He looked upset, which made me worried that this would be a problem. I squeezed his hand and he smiled, which made me feel a little better.

"I'm with Perce." Piper said.  
"I got Charlie." Silena kissed Charlie.  
"Aww, you two are so cute together." Piper cooed and Silena waved her off.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask," Perce piped up, "Where did Clarisse go?"  
"Yeah, where did she go?" Silena scanned the lunch room. "She ain't here, that's for sure." Charlie said.

"She's on vacation." A voice came from behind me. I turned to see Annabeth. Her gray eyes made her look sharp and confident, but her stance made her seem scared. "Hawaii with her parents."

Percy's face lit up. Aww, those two were so oblivious to how obvious they were! "Oh, okay."

"Zoë?" Thales asked.  
"Ask her sister?" Annabeth suggested.

"With pleasure." Leo stood up and walked over to Calypso. From here, I could see him flash a smile and wink. Calypso shoved Leo into someone and they dropped their food all over him. The two cracked up laughing. Leo picked up some Fonzies and threw them in Calypso's face. She gasped and splashed some water in his hair.

Those two were so cute together. They walked back together. Calypso was wearing a white fringed t-shirt (now stained) and a pair of jeans. Her hair was wrapped beautifully in a braid at the side of her face.

"What happened?" Percy asked.  
"Food fight." Leo shrugged.  
"Which I totally won." Calypso added.  
"Sure, you tell yourself that Cal." Leo smirked.  
Calypso picked up another water bottle and dumped it on top of Leo.

" _Now_ , I've won." Calypso smiled triumphantly. Leo rubbed his eyes and raked his hair back into place.

"Okay, fine, you win this time." Leo smiled, "Now, where is Zoë?"  
"Oh, she got early acceptance into an archery college," Calypso smiled proudly.  
"Really? Wow, that's amazing!" Thalia grinned from ear-to-ear. "I need to call her! I can't believe she didn't tell me!"  
"Don't take it personally, she's just been busy." Calypso said. "Who is that?" She pointed towards Annabeth.

"That's Owl Girl." Percy said, grinning.  
Annabeth stood up and stuck her hand out, "Annabeth Chase."  
Calypso shook her hand, "Calypso Nightshade," she looked at Percy, "Owl Girl?"  
Percy smiled, "Trying to find a nickname for Bethy here."

Calypso rolled her eyes and went back to her table. Leo walked her back and returned to his seat.  
"Food fight, eh..." Jason simpered.  
"Yup. She loves me." Leo glanced over at Calypso, who was cleaning her shirt. She looked over at Leo and stuck her tounge out. Leo stuck his tounge out back.

"Moving on," Percy said, "I'm having a party today after school. Who can guess what it's for?"  
"OOH, OOH, because it's your birthday?" Grover suggested.  
Piper got up and slapped Grover (it didn't hurt), "No stupid, his birthday is August, you know that!"  
"AHH, UN LOCO CHICA!" Leo screeched, getting up and running in circles around the table with Piper chasing him.

"Okay, any other suggestions?" Perce chuckled.  
"Back-to-school party?" Annabeth suggested.  
"Ding, ding, ding!" Percy mimicked a bell sound, "An actually smart guess." Annabeth blushed.  
"Ooh, we playing Pok mon?" Grover asked.

"Yee," Percy and Grover did their weird Pokémon handshake.  
I looked over and Annabeth looked a little confused.

I tried to fill in some blanks for her, "Oh, um, the boys have a tradition of playing Pokémon when they have a play date-"  
"HANGOUT SESH!" Leo interjected.

"PLAY DATE!" I glared at Leo, still being chased by Pipes. "Do you play?"  
"Oh, yeah. My brother, Malcom, used to play it all the time. He's a lot older, he goes to Yale." Annabeth smiled.  
"Ooh, brother?" Piper stopped chasing Leo and sat next to Annabeth.

"Yeah. Money's a little tight paying for his tuition, but, we manage. He pays what he can. Some of my early memories with him were playingPokémon ." She tried a smile, but I could tell she was a little emotional bringing back memories.

"Hey, you don't need to be fake with us. We get it." I smiled. Annabeth looked at me and smiled. Her eyes were a little shiny, not crying though. I embraced her and she hugged me back. Pipes, Silena, Thales and even Reyna hugged us too.  
More hands wrapped around and I saw Frank, Leo, Grover, Sparky, Perce, and Charlie had joined us.  
"Group hug!" Leo said in a feminine voice. Pipes shoved the boys back and we broke up the hug.

"Way to ruin the moment." Reyna said, elbowing Grover.  
"We couldn't help ourselves." Charlie smiled. "Sorry, Bethy."  
"Don't worry about it." Annabeth waved him off. She was so humble, it was inspiring.  
The bell rang and lunch was over.

"Guys, remember, my house tonight!" Percy bellowed. I looked and saw Annabeth. She looked like she wanted to say something, yet was too awkward to, which I understood. My first day at this table, eek! I just hung onto Frank for support.

"Perce!" I exclaimed. Percy turned around to face me with that goofy face. "Bethy?"  
Percy looked over at Annabeth. "Got it!" Percy walked over to Annabeth to tell her about tonight, probably the address or something like that.

I walked out the lunch door and felt someone's arms around my stomach. I looked over my shoulder and saw Frank's face.  
"Hey." I whispered.  
"Hey." He whispered back. "That was nice of you."  
I got confused, "What was nice of me?"

Frank chuckled, "It's so cute how oblivious you are to your kindness." I felt my cheeks turning scarlet. "When you told Perce about Annabeth. That was nice of you."

I smiled, "Well, I related to her. My first party, you pointed me out to Percy. I could only return the favor." Frank came out from behind me and held my hand as we walked to class.

 **Annabeth POV:**

I was contemplating whether or not to ask Percy where he lived to come to the party. I mean, was I really part of their group now? I felt like if I asked and they said I wasn't invited, I might die of embarrassment.

"Bethy?" I heard my name being called and turned around to see Hazel. She was looking over at someone.  
"Got it!" I heard a familiar voice again. Percy was walking over to me. _Oh gods, is he coming over to tell me I'm invited, or that I can't come?_

"Hey, Annabrain." Percy smiled. I looked at him, unimpressed. "Ouch, that bad?"  
"Yeah, that bad." We walked into the hallways together. He was surprisingly quiet.  
"Well..." Percy said, still walking.  
"Well, what?" I asked.

"Aren't you going to ask me something, Bethy?" He sniggered and walked forward.  
Ugh, such a tease.  
I had really hoped he would've just given me an answer.

"Am I, uh, invited to your party thing?" Wow! I formed an actual sentence.  
"Well, duh! I thought you were going to ask for my address." He looked at me as if I should've known. Well I'm sorry, I didn't know the standard for someone when they join the populars and a party is being held!  
"That too." I added.

"Why don't I give you my number?" Percy asked.  
"What?" I said, dumbfounded. Why was Percy Jackson giving me his number?  
"I said, why don't I give you my number? You'll probably forget it if I tell you, so I'll text it to you instead." Percy said. "What, is that a problem?"

"Um, no. No, it's fine." I said. "Can I have your phone?" Percy stopped walking. "Why? Do you want to snoop or something?" He interrogated.  
"One, I take your phone. Two, I put in my number. Three-" **(Got this line from '13 Reasons Why', btw, my favorite scene.)**  
"Oh, duh." Percy pulled out his phone, unlocked it, and handed it to me, "That's why you're the brains."  
I put in my number and gave him his phone back. He looked at it and frowned, "No picture?"  
"I mean, I'm really ugly right now so-"

Percy put his finger on my lips. "Annabeth Chase, that is a very unAnnabeth statement."  
I tilted my head quizzically.  
"That is a very unintelligent statement." He pressed the picture button so quick, I couldn't object.

"Now that," Percy showed me his screen, "is a great picture."  
I looked at it. My face was blushing from what Percy had just said. There was a smile tugging at the side of my lips. My eyes looked grayer than ever, yet, they looked semi-normal.

"Now that," I returned his phone back to him, "is a great picture indeed. Now get to class, lil' merman." I scooted away before he could object. I almost heard him say, "Very funny, Annabrain." And that, was the climax of my day.

 **WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!  
**  
 **CALEOOOOOO  
FRAZELLLLLL  
JASPERRRRRR  
PERCABETHHHHHH  
MORE SHIPSSSSSS  
(Sorry, not sorry, lol)**  
 **Honestly, Caleo was the most fun to write, just because I love their relationship. So cuteeeee oml!**  
 **Your gurl, KHO.**


	5. Get Pumped!

**Hey people! Happy fourth of July (even though it was yesterday)! Hope you like the chapter, I tried to put a lot of everyone into it, rather than just Percabeth, so later on, everyone has a strong bond with one another. Don't worry if you're confused with the Pokémon stuff, you don't need to know it for the plot. ONTO THE CHAPTER!**

 **Grover POV:  
**  
The bell rang and class was over. I picked up my books and slipped out of class to get to my locker. "Wow, thanks Annabeth!" I heard a voice behind me and turned to see Juniper Dryad talking to Annabeth. My heart started pounding. Juniper wasn't the prettiest, or smartest girl, but she made my heart melt. The way she talked about nature made me weak to the knees.

"No problem, Juniper! Hope you find the book!" Juniper started to walk away. She was wearing a pink top with a short yellow skirt and black tennis shoes. Her amber hair swayed back and forth as she walked to her locker.  
I shoved my things in my locker and grabbed my bag out. I headed for Annabeth.

"Hey, Beth." I smiled, trying to play it cool. I didn't know if it was working.  
"Hey, Grover. Need something?" She asked, unlocking her locker.  
"Oh, I uh, saw you talking to Juniper and-"  
"Ahh, you want me to introduce you." She finished.  
"How did you-"  
"I have great people skills." Annabeth pulled out her bag and closed her locker. We walked outside together.

"So, um, could you introduce me?" I stuttered.  
"Aww, of course. You two seem like a match made in Elysium." Annabeth smiled over at Juniper, who was talking to someone on her phone. The two waved at each other.  
"Thanks, Beth. I've been told I'm not that approachable." I scratched my head.  
"No problem. I mean, you guys have all been pretty welcoming to me. If Juniper could see that..." She paused, "She might fall head over heels."  
A bus pulled into the lot. "Ah, my bus is here. I'll see you at the party, Grover!" Annabeth started heading to her bus.  
"See you, Beth!" I called back. The squad was chilling by their table. I walked over to them and they all looked over at me.

"What just happened with you and Bethy?" Thalia asked. I looked over at Percy, and there was a look in his eyes. I couldn't place my finger on it.  
"She was giving me some advice," I shrugged, sitting on the bench.  
"Advice?" Percy asked. I nodded my head.  
"What kind of advice?" Leo requested.  
"That is for me to know, and you to find out. What's happening here?" I realized that everyone was probably talking about something before I came.  
"Oh, we're talking about food for tonight. We're all going to bring something, like a potluck." Piper said. "Here's the sheet." Piper handed me a sheet of loose leaf paper.

 **Pipes** : Fruit Kabobs  
 **Super-sized McShizzle/Leo** : Fonzies  
 **Sparky** : Potato Chips Hazel: Chocolate-chip cookies  
 **Frank** : Pizza (Black olives on half)  
 **Death Breath/Nico/Magician** : _(_ ← _Fuck you all -Nico)_ Coca-Cola and Lemonade  
 **Silena** : Blueberries _(Nice choice -Perce)_  
 **Charlie** : Mozzarella sticks  
 **Thales** : Chocolate Strawberries  
 **Reyna** : Celery sticks _(Boring -Leo)(Wanna die? -Reyna)(I take it back. -Leo)_  
 **Perce** : Blue food = Blue skittles, blue M&M's, blue sour patch kids, blue Oreos  
 **Sunace** : Cake = Chocolate, Vanilla, Blue _(For Percy -Will)(You're my new best friend -Perce)_

I grabbed a pen and scribbled on: **G-man/Grover** : Enchiladas. "Oh, Will is coming?" I asked. Beth had introduced him to us all the other day.  
"Yeah, Ni-" Thales stopped. "I suggested it. Annabeth's coming with him."  
"Ah, okay. Speaking of Annabeth," Percy glared at me, "Who's going to tell her about the potluck?" I asked.  
"I'll text her." Percy blurted. _Wow, is it just me, or is he getting really upset right now?_

"Okay, good." I handed the paper back to Pipes. "When are we meeting up?"  
"Aw hell yeah," Leo said, peeking at the paper, "Enchiladas."  
"5, but you can come later if you want. Party ends whenever you want to leave. Some of you can sleep over if you want, just tell your parents." Percy told us.  
"Aunt Sally's fine with it?" Thales asked.  
"Yeah, especially you and Jason, because you're family." Percy said, "Oh, our buses are here. See you guys at my place!"  
"Later, Perce." I said. Percy and everyone else went to their bus. I was getting picked up by my mom, as usual. I pulled out my phone and waited for her to arrive.

"Grover, come here!" I looked up from my phone and mom was waiting. Well, not biological mom. My mom adopted me when I was about 3. She said she loved me from the moment she laid eyes on me. Apparently, I was found in the middle of the woods by some campers. My DNA didn't match anyone else's. My mom didn't want to look into it after she adopted me. Why did it matter anyway?  
"Coming!" I dropped my phone into my pocket and got into the car with mom.

"How was school?" She asked, driving back home. "Just like always. Oh, there's a back-to-school party at Percy's place later and I need to get some enchiladas," I told her.  
"Ah, you and Percy. You going with the rest of the gang, or is there anyone else?" She asked. Mom knew me so well.  
"Nico's coming, that doesn't usually happen. There's this new girl, Annabeth who joined, she's pretty nice. She's introducing me to Juniper."  
"Ooh, she knows your crush? Wow." Mom smiled.  
"Yeah. She's also bringing her friend, Will."  
"Great, as if I needed more names to remember."  
"MOM!" I whined, then laughed.  
"What? You have a lot of friends." She laughed too. I talked to her until we got home.

 **Annabeth POV:  
**  
"Hey, princess!" Dad called from inside. I walked into the house and pulled my key out of the lock.  
"Hey, dad"  
"Can you come in the kitchen?"  
"Yeah, sure." I struggled to reattach the key to my necklace. All my necklaces were tangled together. I had 3 necklaces, by the way. One was for my keys, obviously. The other was a gift from my mother, Athena. It reads, "It gets better" on the back of a silver owl with little gems on the side. The last one is a bead necklace. I looked at it and suddenly, everything went white.

* * *

 _I stood at the door. Beads of sweat dripped down my forehead. I hadn't been this nervous in a while. 3 weeks. It had been 3 weeks since I'd last seen that Kelp Head. We went to the beach 3 weeks ago, and now here I was, waiting at his door. I was mad. Mad at myself for liking him. Mad at myself for being nervous. He was just a boy. No, he was just my hero. I almost lost dad forever, and he brought him back.  
_  
 _Shakily, I knocked on the door. I was wearing a light green dress with white sneakers. My dad told me dress shoes would look nicer, but they were so uncomfortable. I was only 7, after all.  
_  
 _My hair was in a braided crown on my head, done for me by my brother, Malcom. He was actually pretty good with hair, and in my hand, I held a bag with a present inside._  
 _The door opened and there he was; the Kelp Head. I'm sure he had an actual name, but it faded away over time. And, no doubt, he was a kelp head._  
 _"Woah, you actually look nice." He looked at me, staring.  
_  
 _"Oh haha." I said, sarcastically. "You don't look that bad either." And he really didn't. He was wearing a dark blue, plaid shirt with black jeans. His hair was combed up and his sea-green eyes sparkled at me._  
 _"Ouch," he held up a hand to his heart and I rolled my eyes. Kelp head's dad walked up behind him._  
 _"Hello, Annabeth. You look beautiful." He smiled warmly._  
 _"Thank you. At least someone thinks so." I glared at Kelp Head and he stuck his tounge out. I did too.  
_  
 _"Come in, dear. Where's your dad?" Kelp Head's dad asked._  
 _"He's in his car." I answered._  
 _"Ah, I'll go talk to him. You kids go inside and talk." Kelp Head's dad walked out towards my dad's car and Kelp Head invited me in._  
 _"Let's go to my room!" Kelp Head ran up to his room and I followed.  
_  
 _I walked into Kelp Head's room and immediately felt at home. His house was really clean and neat and everything, his dad being this wealthy marine biologist, but his room was warm and cozy._  
 _When I walked in, the first thing that popped into my head: blue. His walls were a light baby blue. His sheets were a dark navy blue and his window curtains matched._  
 _"Wow, you sure do love your blue..." I said, sitting on his bed with him._  
 _"Was it that obvious?" He smirked and I playfully shoved him._  
 _"Shut it, Seaweed Brain." I giggled and he laughed too.  
_  
 _"So, how's your life." He asked, making small talk._  
 _"Pretty standard. School is school, but I never really minded it anyway." I shrugged._  
 _"I wonder why, Wise Girl." I threw a pillow at his face. He caught it and smiled, "Nice throw."_  
 _"Nice catch." I smirked. He set down the pillow and I continued. "Dad and I are preparing for the move." We were quiet for a minute.  
_  
 _His dad walked in, "Hey kiddos. There's food downstairs if you want some. Oh, your dad will pick you up in 2 hours, Annabeth."_  
 _"Thank you," I said, standing up. Seaweed Brain stood up after me._  
 _"Follow me," Kelp Head walked out of his room and led me to the kitchen.  
_  
 _My jaw might have dropped, "If we eat this all, we might literally die." Kelp Head's kitchen was huge. The floor was decorated with black and white tiles. The walls were as white as clouds. There were a couple white cupboards and cabinets around the walls. The marble countertops were gleaming in the light from the windows. In the center of the kitchen, there was a birch wood table, topped in tons of food There was blue cake, blue M &M's, pizza (with olives, yum), blueberries, blue raspberry lollipops, cotton candy, blue chocolate-chip cookies, and about 10 other foods.  
_  
 _"We don't need to finish it, just eat what you like." Kelp Head handed me a plate, and threw things onto his plate._  
 _"Jeez, are you really going to eat all that?" I asked, picking up the salad spoon.  
_  
 _"Ah, you underestimate me," He said, snatching some blue chocolate-chips cookies. I rolled my eyes and picked up some pizza, a cookie, and some cake._  
 _"So," Kelp Head said, stuffing M &M's into his gullet, "Are you going to miss everything in Greece?"_  
 _"Definitely. My house, my room, school, friends,"_  
 _"Me?" He interrupted. I rolled my eyes and took a bite of pizza. I let out a breath; this pizza was amazing._  
 _"Like it?" He asked me._  
 _"Best pizza ever." I said.  
_  
 _He smiled and threw our plates in the sink. "Come with me, there's something I want to show you."_  
 _"Oh?" I asked. He nodded. We walked up two flights of stairs until we reached the top of his house. He opened a door that led to a terrace on the roof._  
 _"Woah..." I was floored. Seaweed Brain was so lucky to have this amazing house. The wood floor went perfectly with the fence surrounding the terrace. Next to the terrace, there was a little coffee table and two huge cushioned chairs. A mini parasol umbrella was above it. To the left were two beautiful plants, dotted with yellow, white, and, yes, light blue flowers.  
_  
 _"I know. I had the same reaction when I first saw it. Let me guess, you like the architecture." In the short time I knew that kelp head, he really knew me too._  
 _"It's stunning." I stumbled a couple steps and looked around in awe. I heard laughter behind me. "What's so funny?" I asked, whipping my head back to face him._  
 _"Ah, nothing. I love your reactions Wise Girl." He chuckled and sat in the white cushion chair._  
 _"Is this amusing to you?" I asked, sitting in the other chair._  
 _"Extremely." He grinned like a mad man.  
_  
 _I scoffed and got up to stand by the terrace. The view was beautiful. Since Seaweed Brain's house was a little, well, extremely big, there weren't many houses nearby. The sky turned to a flaming orange color. The clouds wrapped around the sun, forming what almost seemed like a blanket. I felt a tear trickle down my face._  
 _Kelp Head looked over. He ran up to me and held my hands, "Are you okay? Wh-why are you crying?"  
_  
 _A smile tugged at the bottom of my mouth, "Because I'm actually going to miss you, Seaweed Brain." I whispered. Once I left, I would never see his face. The boy with kelp instead of a brain, yet I still loved him. He would be a memory._  
 _"Aw, Annabeth." His arms wrapped around me, forming a tight embrace, "I'm going to miss you too." I hugged him back. His hug felt so warm. I felt safe, like nothing could touch me from here. I pulled away.  
_  
 _I walked over to the little bag I was carrying earlier and pulled out two necklaces made of beads. I walked back over "I made them for us. I thought... I thought that if we wore them, we would never forget each other." When I had first made it, I didn't want to give them to him, because I thought it was embarrassing. Then I realized, I didn't care if it was embarrassing. I was about to lose my Kelp Head.  
_  
 _"Annabeth..." I looked up and he was crying too. He picked up the necklace and went behind me. My hair was up in a crown, so he didn't need to brush it out of the way. He clipped the ends together and hugged me from behind, his hands around my arms.  
_  
 _He let go and I went behind him. I draped the necklace in front of him, and clipped it in the back. He turned to face me, "What are the beads for?"_  
 _"They represent all the things we did together." I took pointed at the beads on my bracelet as I named them. I first pointed at a bead with a blue and gray surfboard, "This one is from when we went to the beach last week,"  
_  
 _"And I taught you how to surf." He finished, smiling._  
 _"Yes." I smiled back and pointed to the next bead. This one had a really insane looking blue fro-yo on it, "This is from when we ate those frozen yogurts."_  
 _"Yum, that was delish." Kelp Head said, rubbing his stomach. I chuckled._  
 _The next bead had a fish tank with a shark inside, "This one is from the aquarium your dad took us to." "I remember that shark!" He exclaimed, "You screamed so loud, you scared the old couple next to us!" He broke up in laughter.  
_  
 _"Shut up. I was rightfully scared." I huffed and then laughed with him._  
 _The next bead was of a sign that said, 'Zoo' and underneath was a giraffe._  
 _"This is from when we went to the zoo with my dad, and we saw all those animals."_  
 _"Oh jeez, that giraffe was ginormous," Kelp Head said, his mouth hanging open.  
_  
 _I moved onto the last bead, "And this,"_  
 _"Is when we helped you find your dad at the Parthenos." He finished. I looked down at the little microphone on the bead._  
 _"Do you like it?" I asked._  
 _"Annabeth, I love it. This means so much to me. Unless I have to, I promise I will never take this off," He said._  
 _"Same." I said.  
_  
 _"Annabeth, your dad is here!" A loud voice called from downstairs._  
 _Seaweed Brain chuckled, "She's coming, dad!" He looked at me for a couple seconds, "Come on." We walked back down to the front door. I held his hand as we hopped down the stairs. His grip was strong, but not hurtful, as if he was holding on to the memory of me._  
 _We approached our parents, who were talking about where we were going to move._  
 _"Hey, sweetie. Ready to go?" Dad asked me, smiling.  
_  
 _"As ready as I'll ever be." I responded. I faced Kelp Head. I could help but feel tears streaming down again. "I love you." I whispered, so only he could hear. He clutched me, hugging me tighter than ever before. I fell into his embrace, and felt the world melt away. "I love you too, Wise Girl."_  
 _He started to pull away. "Keep holding on." I whispered._  
 _"Always." He smiled, and hugged me again.  
_  
 _"I don't want to break this up, but we really do need to leave." Dad said, and I could tell he really didn't._  
 _We released each other. "Keep the necklace. We'll always have each other." He said, holding my hands._  
 _"Of course. Always and forever." I let go of his hands and walked to dad.  
_  
 _"Goodbye, Annabeth. We really will miss you." Kelp Head's dad hugged me too._  
 _"I'll miss you guys too." I smiled, rubbing my tears away.  
_  
 _"Poseidon, it's been a pleasure." My dad said, shaking his hand._  
 _"Likewise." Poseidon smiled back at us. Me and dad walked outside. We walked through the driveway and got into the car._

 _I looked out the window and saw Seaweed Brain and Poseidon standing outside, waving at us. I put my hand up to the window and Percy held his hand up too._  
 _We drove away, and I thought about a life without him._

* * *

I blinked, hard and realized I was still standing in my house, holding my backpack.  
"Annabeth?" My dad called.  
"Ah, coming, coming," I took off my shoes and rushed into the kitchen. I guess the flashback had only been a couple seconds, cause my dad didn't notice.  
I approached the kitchen and saw dad grading some papers. He handed me an apple, "Here, pumpkin."

"Um, this isn't a pumpkin." I said.  
"You are though." He booped my nose and asked me, "Any plans?"  
"Ah, yeah, me and Will are going to a party."  
My dad stood up, shocked, "My princess going to a party? The last party you went to was Alice's 8th grade summer bash!"

"Dad!" I groaned.  
"Who's house?" He asked. Oh no, here comes the hard part.  
"Um, Thalia's cousin's house. A couple other kids are coming too." Please be okay with that answer...  
He didn't look convinced, "Alright... what're you going to do there?"

 _Yes! He bought it!_ Well, it's technically true. "Play some Pokémon and eat dinner. Maybe some karaoke..." I said.  
"Sounds fun." Dad smiled.  
 _Zzzt, Zzzt._ My phone buzzed. I pulled it out and it showed, "Messages : Percy". I unlocked it and read.

 **Percy: Hey, the party is a potluck, so bring something to eat with you. If you can't, it's fine, don't worry. Thales told Will too.  
**  
"Oh, dad, do we have any leftover food I can bring?" I asked.  
"Let me see what we got, you get ready." He said, smiling.  
"Ah, okay. Thanks, dad. And, when should I get back?" I asked.

"How's 1:00 max?" He said. I gasped.  
"1:00! Oh my gods, that's so late! You trust me that much?" I questioned.  
"Yeah, you're pretty responsible kiddo. Try to come back with Will if you can." I wrapped dad in a hug.  
"Yay. I'm going to get ready!" I said, heading upstairs.  
"Okay!" Dad said, looking through the fridge. I loved dad for that. He always believed in me.

I got to my room and jumped onto my bed, throwing my bag into it's usual spot. I pulled my phone back out and responded to Percy.

 **Me: On it, thanks.**  
 **Percy: You coming with Will?**  
 **Me: Yeah, his dad's driving us.**  
 **Percy: Ah, okay. I'll send him the address then.**  
 **Me: Okay, see you there then.**  
 **Percy: See ya, Owl Face  
Me: WATER BOY  
Percy: ANNABRAIN  
Me: LIL MERMAN  
Percy: OLD WOMAN  
Me: HORSE BREATH  
Percy: Wait, really?**  
 **Me: Not sure, bye.  
**  
I switched my phone off and got up to place it on the table. Next step: Clothes.

My closet had very few clothes, as we sold most of them. Though, I did love all my dresses. I wasn't sure which to wear, so I picked randomly. "Ah, beautiful," I smiled, heading into the bathroom. I washed my face and put on my only makeup, some lip gloss and blush, as if I don't already blush enough. I changed my clothes too.  
The dress was white lace, sleeveless and simple, like me. I brushed my hair and left in loose instead of tying it. I looked in the mirror and thought that I looked decent enough. I grabbed a little perfume and spritzed it on my dress.

Lastly, I put some lemon lotion on my face. As stupid as it sounds, lemon repels spiders, so I don't care about judgement.  
I heard dad call, "Sweetie, Will's here!"

"Got it!" I grabbed my bag, and put in the lip gloss and lemon lotion, $40 in case of emergency (or if Will got drunk and we needed to leave), my phone, a book (stop judging), and my breath mints.

I rushed down the stairs to see Will and my dad. Will wore an orange shirt T-shirt and jeans. He also had his iconic light green jacket on, and his messy hair looked the same too.  
"Hi, Annabeth," Will smiled, "Let's bounce!"

 **Silena POV:  
**  
"We're here!" Charlie announced, waking me from my slumber.  
"We are indeed! Upsy daisy, sleeping beauty!" A voice whispered.  
"Ugh, we shouldn't have brought him..." I mumbled, lifting my head up. We had been driving to Perce's place with Charlie and... Valdez.  
"Um, rude." Leo stated.

"He's my brother, I had no choice." Charlie whispered loudly.  
"Am I that bad?" Leo whined.  
"Is that even a legitimate question?" I asked, opening the door to leave. "Thanks for driving us Ms. Valdez." I picked up the blueberries.

"No problem. Leo, don't be a doofus." Mrs. Valdez advised.  
"Moomm," Leo whined again.  
"Charlie, have fun and watch over Leo." Charlie chuckled and nodded. "I'll be back at midnight."  
The boys got out of the car, Leo with his Fonzies and Charlie with his mozzarella sticks. Mrs. Valdez drove away.

"Ah, I love your mom." I smiled, walking to Percy's house.  
"Same." Leo said. He was wearing a buttoned up orange shirt and white jeans. His brown hair looked like someone piled it on his head, but Leo pulled it off. His brown eyes looked full of excitement and cheekiness, just like Leo.  
"Same, bro," Charlie elbowed Leo (playfully,) and walked next to me. He was wearing a black shirt and denim jacket with black jeans. His hair was neatly combed and his brown eyes were glimmering.

"Awh, right in the stomach." Leo grabbed his stomach with his free hand.  
We reached Percy's house. His house was a cream white. We walked up the steps to his door. I rang the doorbell.  
"Welcome, Silena, Charlie, Leo. Come in, leave the shoes outside." Ms. Jackson, Percy's mom, greeted us at the door. I slipped off my flip-flops and scooted into the house.  
One thing that never gets old: Walking into Percy's house. It was small, but cozy. It made you feel welcome. Sometimes, even the prettiest houses aren't the ones that you love the most.

"Here, put your food on the table. I'll set it up for everyone." Everyone dropped the food off for Ms. Jackson. "Now, Perce is still getting dressed. You guys can wait for him in the living room. Jason and Piper are there too. Percy will be out shortly. **Cough **cough, Slowpoke ,**Cough **Cough." And, that was why I loved Sally. She wasn't just Percy's mom, she was his best friend too.

We went to sit in the living room, waiting for Percy.  
"Hey, guys. Wow Silena, you look beautiful." I was wearing an white top with a halter neckline and a short black skirt. My black hair was in bouncy curls to the side of me.  
"Aww, you too, Pipes!" I wrapped Piper into a hug. She was wearing a pink off the shoulder top with jean shorts. Her hair was beautifully braided with that little feather at the bottom the Pipes always wore. Her eyes always seemed as if they were changing color, but they definitely looked more green now.

"Aww, you too, Jason!" Leo wrapped Jason into a hug. Jason put two fingers up to his mouth, pretending to vomit. He pushed Leo off of him. Jason was wearing a yellow T-shirt and gray jeans.

"Hey, why didn't you come with Thalia?" Charlie asked.  
"Well, I was chilling with Piper, and Thalia wanted to come with Nico." Jason said. "Those two are tight."  
"No kidding." Leo smirked, "If he wasn't gay, I could see the both of them together."

"And yet," A voice came from behind me, "We still can't see you with anyone."  
I turned around, shocked, "EEK!" It was Percy. "PERSEUS JACKSON, DON'T YOU DARE EVER SNEAK UP ON ME AGAIN!" I slapped Percy, repeatedly.  
"Ouchies, please stop, Barbie Doll!" Percy pleaded, running around the room.

"I HATE THAT NAME, YOU KNOW THAT!" I chased Percy and Leo around while Leo screamed, "AHH, UN LOCO CHICA!"  
Charlie stopped me, "Chill, chill, it's okay." I stopped and took deep breath.  
"Perseus Jackson, you ever do that again and I swear, I'll-" I was crushed into a hug.

"I'm sorry okay? I won't sneak up on you anymore." I hugged him back and then got my blood rate back down to normal. I looked at Percy. He was wearing a full-sleeve blue shirt and some jeans (Wow, I didn't think he could get more blue, I was wrong). He hair was combed up to look pretty decent.  
"Late to your own party?" Charlie asked, "Classic Percy."  
Percy shrugged, "I do what I can."  
We all sat down to play some Pokémon while waiting for Grover, Thales, Bethy, Will, Nico, Hazel, and Frank, since Reyna was busy at home.

"Ugh, when are they coming?" Leo whined about 5 minutes later.  
"Shut up, Bethy and Will have never come here before! They might be lost." Piper said.  
"That's no excuse for Frank, Hazel, Nico, Thales, and especially Grover." Leo huffed.  
"Aww, are you bored Leo? I have an idea for you, why don't you lose epically, TO MY OSHAWOTT!" Percy challenged  
"Oh, you're on water boy." Leo jumped at the DS, "Let's play."

 **Annabeth POV:**

"Hi, Annabeth," Will smiled, "Let's bounce!"  
"Coming!" I stumbled to my shoes and slipped on my black fabric boots. I grabbed my leather jacket and slid it on. I thought at first that wearing my only actually cool piece of clothing, my leather jacket, might be too much. I never wear that at school or where I might see my peers, because I didn't want people getting the wrong idea. Then, I thought, Meh, I'm going to hang out with populars anyway...

"You look beautiful, princess. Here's some extra Lemon Meringue Pie for you to take. Come back safe!" My dad kissed me on the forehead and handed me the pie.  
"With pleasure. Bye, dad!" I walked out the door with Will.

If you know anything about Will, he is nothing like his father. Apollo is very... unWill. Let me put that in better terms. He's a huge extrovert. He is married to Will's mom, Naomi Solace. Both of them are basically what you might call, cool parents.  
You know that one friend whos parents are really cool and awesome, but in reality, they're really embarrassing? Yeah, those are Will's parents. Well, at least, that's what Will thought. I thought Mr. Solace was great.

"Hey, Annabeth," Apollo waved to me from his car.

"Hey, Mr. Solace!" I walked over to the car and sat inside with Will. Some music came on, a track by Apollo and Naomi. You see, Mr. Solace and Mrs. Solace were really good singers. They had a few record albums that went huge. Then, the two settled down and had Will. Ah Will, the son of one of the most musical couples ever.  
"Now what did I say about calling me Mr. Solace?"  
"Sorry, Apollo." I corrected.  
"Ah, thank you. Sorry, hearing the word 'Mr.' in front of my name makes me feel so old. Anyway, ready for tonight you two?" Apollo asked us.  
"Can't wait." Will rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Will! It's a party! You need to get pumped!" I put my hands on Will's shoulders and shook him, "Are you ready for this party?" I asked him.  
"Sure." He mumbled.  
"I, can't, hear, you!" I shook him more.  
"AH, AH, okay, I'm ready for this party!" I let go of Will's shoulders and sat back down.  
"Mission accomplished." Apollo smiled from the front; I could see in the rear view mirror. I started laughing and Will huffed again.

 _Zzzt, Zzzt._ I pulled my phone out of my bag and unlocked it. It was a message from Percy.

 **Percy: You coming or not, Chase?  
**  
"Mr. So-" I stopped, "Apollo, are we close?"  
Apollo checked the GPS and said, "About 15 minutes away."

 **Me: We're 15 minutes away.**  
 **Percy: Okay, we you able to snag some food?**  
 **Me: Yeah, I got some pie and Will got Pringles.**  
 **Percy: Sweet, come soon, I'm about to say hi to everyone.**  
 **Me: Wait, you haven't even started yet?**  
 **Percy: Hey, I was busy!**  
 **Me: What, are you evolving into a Slowpoke?**  
 **Percy: Ooh, nice Pokémon reference. I need to get out there now, see ya soon Bethy.**  
 **Me: You too, Water Boy.  
**  
I switched my phone out and looked out the window until we arrived at Percy's house.

 **Hey people!**  
 **I know it's been the same day for 2 (next chapter 3,) chapters, but there's a lot of things to write.**  
 **5259 words. Wow. Just wow.**  
 **Hope you liked the chapter, it was fun to write!**  
 **Your gurl, KHO.**


	6. Chicken?

**Hey people! Today we finally reach the party! Hope you all like the chapter!**

 **Annabeth POV:  
**  
"We're here, you two." Apollo parked the car and we had arrived at Percy's place. He turned around to face us. "Will, just call me and I'll come okay? Annabeth, when were you going to leave?"  
"My dad said 1:00." I told him "Ah, okay. I'll be back at 12:30 for both of you. Have fun you two!" Will picked up his bag of Pringles and I got my Lemon Meringue Pie. We hopped out of the car and watch Apollo drive away.

A couple seconds later, another car pulled up. Thales and Nico stepped out. "Hey, Bethy!" Thales called out. She was wearing a black shirt with a boat neckline with ruffles and some jeans. Her hair went down a little past her shoulders and was straightened out. She was holding her chocolate strawberries.

"Hey, Thales!" I smiled. Thalia and Nico now stood in front of us, "You both look nice!"  
"So do you two. Come one, lets go in." Nico was wearing a grey shirt and denim jacket, with some black pants, and his hair was ruffled. He was holding the soda and Lemonade with him.  
We all walked over to Percy's door.

To be honest, I was kind of nervous. It was my first time at a popular's house, let alone Percy Jackson's. "First time at Percy's?" Nico asked. I nodded. "Fair warning, don't act fake. Be yourself and they'll love you." He knocked on the door and we waited for someone to open.

"Hi, Nico, come in! And, darling, Thalia, your brother's inside. Leave your shoes out, please!" A woman smiled at us. She wore a flowing, baby blue top with a white shrug and black pants. Her blue eyes were sparkling and her wavy brown hair went to her shoulders.

She looked at me and Will, "Ah, you must be our new guests. I'm Percy's mom, but I would prefer you call me Sally." She said, leading us inside. Me and Will stepped inside, "Hi, Sally. I'm Annabeth, this is Will." Sally shook our hands and led all four of us to a table where we left our food.

I looked around the food, but couldn't shake the feeling of something. Whatever...  
We walked into the living room at what I'm guessing is the definition of the phrase, "It's not what it looks like".  
Percy, Leo, and Grover were singing, "Let it Go," while following Piper and Silena. Charlie, Hazel, Jason, and Frank were recording it on their phones. Everyone stopped and turned to face us.  
"Ah, there they are..." Leo said, rubbing the back of his head.  
"Hi, mom." Percy said, waving at her.

"Hi, Percy. I think you're forgetting the dress and hair. You're looking a little too... manly, to play Elsa. Same goes for the rest of you boys. Piper, Silena, come here you two. They're only following you because they've forgot their manners," Sally turned to face Percy, "especially you." Silena whipped her hair in Grover's face and stormed off with Piper. "Now, I need to call someone right now, so I'm going to my room. Call me in case of an emergency." Sally walked out of the room and everyone started laughing.

"Annabeth, you look stunning!" Silena looked at me in awe. I blushed and wrapped my jacket around me tighter.  
"And coming from her, that means a lot." Thalia smirked and walked off to everyone else with Nico and Will.  
"Shut it, Thales." Silena huffed.

Meanwhile, Leo, Percy, and Grover shuffled towards me, arguing. "Okay, Bethy, we need your opinion, since you're really smart." Percy stated.  
"Um, okay..." I said, suspiciously, "What's up?"  
"The ceiling. What we need is for you to decide once and for all, what is the best starter Pokémon in White 2?" Leo asked. The boys waited anxiously for an answer.

"Does Annabeth even play Pokémon?" Nico asked from behind the boys.  
"Um, I did. Honestly, the best starter in White 2, is probably Snivy, thanks to his evolutions. He's a challenge at the start, but eventually may become a great asset. Tepig is way too slow, even with his strong attacks. And, any fire type could easily replace him. Oshawott has the least weakness, but is the most useful for someone experienced. If it's your first time, Oshawott is great, but honestly, he could also be replaced by any water types. Still, if you did train him up, he's a good choice as starter." I explained.

You think people would get used to my explanations, but, nope! The boys (including Charlie, Jason, Frank, Nico, Will) were basically floored. The girls were more floored, as they weren't big Pokémon fans.  
"Um, wow." Frank blinked. "Just, wow."  
"So, clearly, Tepig is trash." Percy smirked.  
"Hey!" Leo complained.  
"Clearly." I added, sticking my tounge out at Leo.

"So, which is the best?" Grover asked. I thought for a moment.  
"It depends on the person. Some people are great with Snivy, while others are great with Oshawott. I always stuck with Snivy, as I like the hard route, but I would suggest Oshawott, as it has very minimal weakness and when trained can become a really great Pokémon." I finished.

"Ha, eat that, I'm the suggested!" Percy ran over to the sofa and stood on it, while beating his chest and saying, "BOW DOWN TO OSHAWOTT," Over and over again.  
I laughed and went back to talking to the girls. "Wow, you know your stuff!" Hazel said, putting and arm around my shoulder. "Aren't you hot in that jacket?" She asked.  
"Well, kinda..." I peeled off my jacket and laid it on the couch. "Ahh, much better."

I heard a loud noise and turned around. Leo had squirted ketchup all over Percy. His clothes, his face, his hair... you get it. The boys cracked up laughing, and the girls did too. Even I let out a chuckle.  
"Holy Hera, you look great man!" Grover took a picture of Percy covered in ketchup. Percy wiped the ketchup out of his eyes.  
"I'm, uh, gonna go change... You guys keep partying." Percy walked out of the living room and everyone started laughing again.

"Bro, send me that picture right now." Leo said, with a huge grin on his face.  
"Oh, don't worry, it's going on my Snapchat story. What should I write?" Grover said, snickering at the picture.  
"Ketchup man awakens?" Jason suggested.  
"It's good, but it needs to be perfect..." Grover thought. And idea popped into my head and I burst into laughter.  
"What's so funny?" Will asked, walking over to me. I couldn't even speak, I just kept laughing. I took a few deep breaths.

"When, um," I giggled, "When I used to play Pokémon with my brother, we'd name each other Pokémon for the day, based on what we were wearing. I just remembered one time, when my brother was wearing all red, and I called him a," I started laughing again, but managed to say, "Darumaka!"

There was an awkward silence, but the boys broke it by snorting so loud, the person on the phone with Sally could probably hear them. (If you don't know what that is, f9b1/th/pre/i/2013/086/e/f/554_darumaka_by_ )

"OH MY GODS, A DARUMAKA!" Jason was rolling on the floor laughing (literally ROFL.) "I need to put that in, and do a side-by-side." Everyone went behind Grover's phone to see the comparison. He pulled up the two and Leo fell on the couch laughing.  
"I can't breathe!" Will was trying to catch his breath. The only person not laughing was Nico.

"I don't get it." Nico said.  
"Maybe your magic powers could help you." Will said innocently. Thalia snickered.  
"Oh, you're dead now." Nico said.  
"Like you are on the inside?" Will asked. Nico started chasing Will around the living room, shouting, "TODAY'S THE DAY I KILL A MAN!"

I pulled out my phone and went to camera. I recorded Will and Nico run around the room, with everyone else laughing in the background at Grover's phone. I was actually having a great time! After I finished recording, I put my phone away.

"Hey, Annabeth, did you take any food?" Thalia walked up to me.  
"Uh, no, should I?" I asked.  
"If you're hungry, it's 7:30. Just grab a cookie if you want." Thales said, walking to the couch. I shrugged and walked to the other room to pick up a cookie.  
It tasted vaguely familiar. I didn't know what was wrong with me! Since I had met Percy, there was something about him I couldn't shake. There was this connection... When I was with him, I felt safe. I felt comfortable, yet nervous. I felt happy, yet not sad... almost as if there's regret.

"Oh, Bethy, Sunace, come here please!" Thalia called at the front of the room, where there was a makeshift stage for karaoke.  
Confused, Will and I made our way to the front. Did something happen?  
"Oh no, you didn't..." Nico faced Thalia.  
"Oh, I did. Everyone, gather 'round" Thalia grinned evilly. Oh no, why do I have a bad feeling about this? "You all know of the tradition we have for new members of our squad, right? You all did partake in it, after all."  
"Yes, we remember, sis." Jason said.

"Well, I did the same thing for these two. Will, Bethy, I have hidden a possession of both of yours. Will, I hid your green jacket." Thalia announced.  
"No! Not the jacket!" Will huffed.  
"Yeah, that's the only thing he ever wears!" I said in support, but I wasn't sure how it came out.  
"Bethy, I hid your leather jacket." Thalia grinned evilly.  
"No! My one good piece of clothing!" I huffed.

"Okay, the point is, whoever finds their clothing first wins! Whoever finds their clothes second, loses. The winner gets to pick any song they want, and the loser has to sing it, no matter what." Thalia said.  
"No fair! Will wins either way!" I whined.  
"Hmm, true. Okay, fine, if Will loses, I'll pick the song. And believe me, it will be a challenge," She smiled, as if imagining it in her head. "When you find the clothing, run back here and put it on while standing on stage. Whoever does that first gets to pick song, unless it's Annabeth. Then I pick. Get it?" She finished.  
"Yep." Will said. Of course he wasn't worried, he would sing any song great!

"Ready..." Will and I got ready to search the house, "Steady... GO!" Will and I took off. As small as Percy's house was, it was still a challenge to find the jacket. And I HAD to find it. There was no way I was singing up there.  
I walked around the halls, back and forth in every room. There was nothing. Ugh, where could it be?

I stumbled across a new room. _Okay, if it isn't in here, I'm going back to the living room.  
_  
Let me point out, I should've gone to the living room.  
I opened the door and couldn't unsee what I saw. Guess what room it was? It was Percy's room. With Percy. With Percy, who just took a shower, and was shirtless.  
He was wearing a towel around his waist and he was looking through his closet. His hair was wet, so I could tell he washed it.

"EEP!" I covered my face with my hands.  
"Holy Hera-" Percy turned around and covered his body with his blanket, coincidentally next to him on his bed. "Annabeth, what the fu-"

"Sorry, sorry, didn't know this was your room." I moved my hand off my face and looked at Percy. His sea green eyes were shining, as always. Then, I noticed something around his neck. Something colorful...  
"It's fine, just wait outside, I'll come out in a second." He said, hiding under his blanket.  
 _No need to tell me_ _twice._ I ran out of Percy's room and slammed the door behind me.

I stood outside his door, face palming. _Why, do, these, things, happen, to, me?_ I took these few minutes to reflect on my time.

 _I was talked to by Luke Castellan. Thalia stood up for me. Drew pushed me at lunch. Percy took me to the nurse, where I got a cast. Piper called me her friend. Percy frickin' Jackson's gave me his phone number. I was invited to his house for a party. I saw him shirtless.  
_  
Man, it sounded like I was in some kind of Telenovela! What was that thing I had seen on Percy's neck? It was colorful, but I didn't get to see it fully. Was it a necklace?  
Before I could think, Percy opened his door and stepped outside. His hair was still damp, but seemed really messy, as usual. He was wearing a white T-shirt and jeans. He looked shaken, as I probably looked too.

"Okay, hi." Percy said, closing his door behind him, "That was weird."  
"Too weird." I added.  
"Why were you going through rooms anyway?" He asked.  
"Oh, Thalia had this thing where she hid our stuff-"  
"Say no more, I remember." Percy said. "Can we pretend that never happened?"

"With pleasure. But first, what was that thing I saw on your neck inside?" I asked. I didn't want to ask, but my curiosity got the better of me.  
"Oh, um, it's nothing..." He shrugged, "You wouldn't care."  
"Oh yeah? Try me." I stood there, waiting. He just stood there too.  
He sighed, "Okay, fine." He looked down at the ground, "It was a gift from a friend who left. When I used to live in Greece, she gave it to me as a good bye. It's a bead bracelet." He pulled it out from under his shirt. "It represents-"

"All the things we did together." I whispered. He looked up at me. I pulled the necklace out from under my dress.  
We were silent for a moment. Though, I was screaming in my head.

"Kelp Head?" I whispered, my voice full of emotion.  
"Wise Girl?" He whispered back. I ran into him. After all these years, he was right in front of my face. The face of the populars, my best friend. _AHHHHH, I'm SO STUPID! I SHOULD'VE PUT IT TOGETHER EASIER THAN THAT! The blue obsession, the water type Pokémon, the similar aura they both had... Why didn't I see it sooner?  
_  
"Is it really you?" I asked. "Please say yes."  
"Yes, Wise Girl! So, you were her all along! There was this weird feeling I had seeing you, and that was why! I mean, the books, the attitude..." He mumbled into my ear as we hugged. We pulled apart and I looked at him.

"I had a weird feeling too! I mean, you had the blue, and the water thing, and the kelp headiness..." I said.  
"Hey, watch it Wise Girl. Wait... I HAD FOUND YOUR PERFECT NICKNAME THE WHOLE TIME!" He shouted. "I KNEW IT FROM THE BEGINNING!"

I giggled and said, "Yeah, I guess you did."  
"Your glasses really threw me off though. You have perfect vision, don't you? Why are you wearing those?" He questioned.

"I just didn't like my eyes." I admitted.  
"Nonsense. Take them off." Percy reached for the glasses.  
"Percy, no," I swerved out of the way.  
"Percy, yes," He said and tried to grab them again.  
"Percy, NO." I dived out of the way again.  
"Percy, YES!" He wrapped his hands around mine, so I couldn't lift them up to stop him. My glasses lifted off my face and Percy looked at me, "There, now you look like the Wise Girl I know."

Percy smiled and pulled me into the bathroom, where there was a big mirror. Honestly, I did look a lot more like me.  
"Well, we should probably get back." I said.  
"You're right as always, Wise Girl, but we need to talk about this later," he said.  
"Yes, wouldn't have it any other way, Seaweed Brain." We walked back to the living room and everyone's eyes went up towards us.

Piper ran up to me and shook me back and forth, "Where, the fuck, did you go!" I got free of her grasp and said, "Just looking for my jacket."  
"For 20 dam minutes?" Thalia screeched. "And, Perce, where the hell did you come from?"

"My mom, duh." Percy smirked and I elbowed him. "Bethy got lost, so I showed her back."  
"Well, Will won in like 6 minutes. Your jackets were under all the snacks over there." Thalia pointed over to the table.  
I ran over and dug my jacket out from under all the bowls. "That means, Will gets to pick you a song." Frank said.

"YES, I KNOW THE PERFECT ONE, BECAUSE I'VE KNOWN YOU THE LONGEST!" Will danced in celebration.  
"Technically, I have." Percy chimed in.  
"True." I said.  
"Wait, what? You met Percy this year!" Will exclaimed, "I met you in elementary school!"  
"True, but I met her before she moved to your neighborhood." Percy smiled.  
"So, what, in Athens?" Will scoffed.  
"Yeah." I said.

"Wait... is this Kelp Head?" Will asked.  
"Aww, you talked about me?" Percy cooed.  
"Shut up, Seaweed Brain." I smacked him in the head.  
"Okay, what is happening right now?" Jason asked.

"Will is picking Annabeth's song. Will, pick the song quick." Thales urged. Ugh, I really didn't want to sing. My voice was okay, but I had never sang in public, so I didn't know what they would say!  
"You know what, I'll let Percy pick." Will said. "Since he has known her the longest."  
"Ooh, yay!" Percy smirked.  
"What, no, not fair, Will has to do it!" I whined. Percy, well apparently Kelp Head, knows me way too well to know what song I would sing.

"Well, Will doesn't want to. Will wants Percy to, and Percy wants to, so Percy can." Thalia announced. I groaned and faced Percy.  
"Don't make this hard, Kelp Head." I warned.  
"How's 'Without You by David Guetta'? Percy shrugged.

"Not bad..." 'Without you' was a pretty nice song. "I'm doing the Glee version though."  
"Fine by me." Percy looked at Thalia, who started playing the song on her karaoke machine. (I suggest playing the song with it!) **watch?v=QuSq3lQ9nUo**

I stood on the stage and gulped. The only person I sang to was my stuffed owl, Hailey, and she didn't critique to harshly. Percy was smiling at me and gave me a thumbs up. I gave him one back and got ready to sing. I gulped and started to sing, looking at the floor.

 **"I can't win, I can't reign, I will never win this game without you, without you.**  
 **I am lost, I am vain, I will never be the same without you, without you."  
**  
I started to relax a little as I saw their expressions. The words came flowing out.

 **"I won't run, I won't fly, I will never make it by without you, without you.**  
 **I can't rest, I can't fight, all I need is you and I, without you, without you.**  
 **Whoa, you-you-you; Without, you-you-you, Without you!**

 **I can't erase, so I'll take blame, but I can't accept that we're estrange, Without you, without you.**  
 **I can't quit now, this can't be right, I can't take one more sleepless night,**  
 **Without you, without you."  
**  
I looked at Percy and sang. He looked at me too.

 **"I won't soar, I won't climb, if you're not here I'm paralyzed,**  
 **Without you, without you.  
**  
 **I can't look, I'm so blind, I lost my heart, I lost my mind,**  
 **Without you; Without you!  
**  
 **Whoa, you-you-you; Without, you-you-you, Without you!**  
 **I am lost, I am vain, I will never be the same without you, without you.**  
 **Without you..."  
**  
The song ended and there was a silence, followed by applause. I couldn't help but smile and take a bow.

"Oh my lord, you should be entering the Mount. Talent Shows with me gurl!" Will got up screamed.  
"You're so good at singing! No one ever sounds that good on their first time up there!" Frank huffed. "I sounded like a dying walrus." I giggled a little. (Get it?)

I blushed a little too. Was I really that good? I wasn't under the impression that I sang that good. Will was always the one singing. "I mean, I wasn't that good..." I mumbled.  
Percy pulled his phone out and pressed it. My voice came on.  
 ** _"I am lost, I am vain, I will never win this game without you..."_** The video played.  
"That's my voice?" I questioned. I walked over to behind him and saw myself singing.  
"No, I pulled it up on YouTube just now." Percy said, sarcastically.  
"Wow, I've never heard myself sing." I admitted.  
"Well, now everyone will." Percy went to his Snapchat and pressed on his story.

"Percy, no!" I whined.  
"Are we actually doing this again?" He asked, running around the room with his phone.  
"Don't you dare, Seaweed Brain!" I grabbed for the phone, but he held it up too high.

"I dare!" He pressed send and everyone's phone buzzed, even mine. I pulled it out and saw myself on Percy's story. The caption read, 'Found the new talent show winner.'

"PERCY!" I slapped him. "Urgh, I hate you so much!"  
"Love you too, Wise Girl." He smirked. Why was he so cute? How could I stay mad at that face, especially now that I know that it's Kelp Head's face. "Who's going next?"

"I want to!" Will called out.  
"Ugh, of course he does..." Nico groaned.  
"Oh yeah? You sing then." Will challenged.  
"...Yeah, I'll take a hard pass on that." Nico pulled out his phone.

"Come on, Nico, what's the harm?" Will asked. "Are you chicken, or something?"

Nico's face turned paler than usual and he ran out of the living room.  
"What was that?" Frank asked.  
"That's never happened to Nico..." Thalia said. "Maybe I should go talk to him-"  
"No, I will. I made him upset first." Will left the room, following Nico. I wondered why Nico had left.  
"Alright, moving on, who wants to sing next?" Thalia asked.

 **Nico POV:  
**  
"What, are you chicken or something?" I felt my face turned white(r than usual), and I ran out of the room. As soon as I reached the bathroom, I was out cold.

* * *

 _"Nico?" A girl called. "Where are you?"_  
 _"Here, Bianca!" I called back. The girl walked into the room. She was wearing a red, full-sleeve shirt and black pants. Her dark hair was braided and her black eyes looked jubilant._

 _"Let's play truth or dare!" She exclaimed "I'm playing Mythomagic right now." I frowned.  
_  
 _"What, are you chicken or something?" She smirked.  
_  
 _"No, I'm Nico di Angelo." I smirked back. She frowned at me with her puppy dog eyes. "Fine, fine, I give." I put my cards away and sat on the couch with Bianca. We were in our living room._  
 _"Where's mom and dad?" I asked._  
 _"They're in their room, planning for the trip to Italy. Now, truth or dare?" She asked, grinning.  
_  
 _"Truth!" I beamed._  
 _"Boring. But whatever; what is your biggest secret?" She asked.  
_  
 _"Biggest secret..." I thought. Was this how I told her? Was this how I came out of the closet? "Actually?"_  
 _"You can tell me anything, Nico." She squeezed my hand, reassuringly.  
_  
 _"I-I think I'm gay." I said. She looked at me, but didn't say anything. "Please, say something..."_  
 _"I'm so proud of you." A tear rolled down her cheek I looked back at her. "What?"  
_  
 _She rolled her eyes, "You think I didn't know? You're my baby brother, Nico! I realized that you were the moment I saw you. I'm so happy that you told me..." She wrapped me into a hug and I hugged her back._  
 _"Thank you." I hugged her back, also crying. "How am I going to tell mom and dad..."  
_  
 _She pulled away, "What do you mean? They won't care at all! Nico, they and I love you, no matter who you love."_  
 _"You really think so?" I asked.  
_  
 _"I know so." She smirked. "Now, give me a truth or dare."_  
 _"Fine, truth or dare?" I asked._  
 _"Dare, because I'm not a chicken." "Fine, I dare you to tell mom and dad that someone stole your phone at school today." I said.  
_  
 _"What? Oh no, they're going to be so mad!" She sighed. "Whatever. MOM, DAD!" She screamed._  
 _A couple seconds later, my mom and dad came into the living room. Mom was wearing a plain white shirt and black jeans. Her dark hair was wrapped in a bun and her brown eyes were shimmering. "Hey, Bianca, what's up hun?"  
_  
 _"Did you need something?" Dad asked. He was wearing a dark purple shirt and black pants. His dark hair was let out and a little messy, and his black eyes were impenetrable.  
_  
 _"Someone stole my phone at school." She said._

 _"Did you maybe lose it?" Mom asked._

 _"No, someone took it. I saw them, but couldn't see who it was." Bianca added._  
 _"I can't believe you left your phone for someone to take it! You're phone should be with you at all times." Dad sighed._  
 _"He's right, you should always keep your phone with you in case." Mom said._  
 _Bianca looked at me and I nodded.  
_  
 _"Okay, I didn't actually lose my phone." Bianca admitted. Mom and Dad looked confused._  
 _"What?" Mom asked._  
 _"Was this another dare?" Dad asked._  
 _"Yes." I said.  
_  
 _"Ugh, you two and your dares..." Dad let out a chuckle. "So you have your phone?"_  
 _"Yup." Bianca pulled her phone out and all of us started laughing. "Sorry for lying to you."_  
 _"It's okay, honey. Just don't actually lose your phone." Mom smiled. Mom and Dad went back to their room and Bianca and I just talked.  
_  
 _"So, you really think they won't care?" I asked again for confirmation._  
 _"Wouldn't count on it. I'll always be here for you, Nico." I leaned on her shoulder and she put her arm over my shoulder. We sat there and talked for hours._

* * *

"Nico? Where did you go?" Will's voice echoed through the halls.  
"I'm here." I said. Will came over to the bathroom. He looked really worried.  
"What happened?" He asked.

"Nothing. I'm fine, lets go back." I tried to walk through but Will blocked the exit.  
"Don't lie. Why did you run off? Was it something I said?" He asked. He was so genuinely concerned. I didn't want to lie. I wanted to tell him, but it was so painful. This burden was so heavy, but I couldn't drop it onto someone else.  
"No, you didn't say anything." I mumbled.

"...Are you okay?"  
"No." I answered. I walked into the hall and sat against the wall. Will sat next to me. "I'm not okay."  
"What did I say?"

"'What, are you chicken or something?'" I repeated for him.  
"D-Does that mean anything to you?" He asked again.  
"It was something my sister would say." I said, feeling tears in my eyes. Do not cry right now.  
"You have a sister?"

"Had a sister." I corrected. I couldn't hold it in. A fat tear rolled down my cheek.  
"Nico...What happened to her?" He asked.  
"Car crash. Someone hit my mom's car. My mom was okay, but Bianca..." I paused.  
"When did it happen?" He asked.

"You ask a lot of questions. About 4 years ago." I said. He was quiet for a second.  
"I'm sorry."  
"Why? It wasn't your fault." I said.

"Not for that, for annoying you so much. Everyone just says that you're the grumpy boy, but you've been through so much. To lose your sister, and still be enjoying your life..." He stopped for a minute, "She would be so proud of you."

And that's when I broke down. I cried like no one was watching. The flashback, talking about it, it all made me think of seeing her in the hospital. Of saying goodbye to her all over again. Will put his arm around my shoulder and I leaned on him.

"It's okay to cry, I'm here for you." He said. Tears came out like a flood. I was so selfish. I was crying about my problems, while Will was just comforting me. He left the party to come and talk to me. No one had ever done that before.  
"We should get back..." I murmured.

"If you're ready." Will got up and held his hand out for me to get up too. He pulled me up, and we left to join the party.

I think that was the moment I realized I liked him.

 **Dun dun dun...**  
 **That's the end! Oml, this was so interesting to write. Aww, Solangelo is so cute!**  
 **Anyway, hope yall liked the chapter, 5058 words.**

 **After this week, I have summer camp, so chapters might take a little longer to get out. Sorry in advance! For now, I'll probably be able to get at least 2 (3 is my goal) more chapters out before that.  
**  
 **Your gurl signing off, KHO!**


	7. Too many stairs

**Well, I suck. I WANTED TO GET TWO OUT BEFORE CAMP, AND I GOT NONE? I'm sorry, please don't hate me, I have felt your pain before. I was working really hard on this chapter, which is why it's pretty long.**

 **Now that camp has started (yay! Said no one, ever.) I'm going to try extra hard to get chapters out. This is because, I am going on vacation in August! For most of the month, I'll be back on the 20th I think (emphasize the 'I think' part). I won't be able to update there, thanks to crappy Wi-Fi. If by some miracle I can update, then holy Hera, life would be great.  
**

 **THAT WAS LONG, Onto the chapter!**

 **Percy POV (finally):  
**  
I blinked hard and rubbed my eyes. "Ugh, my head..." I heard Jason say, next to me. I sat up and looked around. Did we sleep in the living room?

"Good morning to you too." I picked myself off the couch and saw Thalia on the other couch, dozing away. Jason had slept on the floor apparently. Frank and Hazel had stayed over too, and were cuddling each other on the other side of the couch.

"Morning, Percy." Mom said from the kitchen.  
"Morning, Mom." I said back. "Should I wake them up?" I looked over at everyone sleeping so peacefully.

I definitely wasn't prepared for this. An extremely loud (my ears felt like exploding, especially at 6 in the morning) air horn going off.  
"FTWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Everyone's heads shot up and their hands went up to their ears.  
"WHAT THE FUUUUU-" *looks at my mom*, "-UUUDGEE?" Frank screeched. The air horn stopped and we all looked at mom, who was holding an air horn.

"RISE AND SHINE KIDS!" Mom smiled. We all just looked in awe, but Thales and I started laughing.  
"Classic, Aunt Sally," Thales said, in tears from laughing.  
"Okay, we're up." Hazel said, somehow not sleepy at all.

"Good. Are your parents picking you up now?" Mom asked.  
"Yeah, Mom should be picking Frank and I up, any minute." Hazel said.  
"Wait, I'm meeting your mom any minute? I'm not ready for that!" Frank scrambled away, grabbing some clothes he brought with him.  
"How else did you think we were getting home?" Hazel questioned.  
"I knew that we were, but I thought I'd have more time to prepare!" Frank called from what I'm guessing was the bathroom.  
"Prepare? It isn't a job interview!" Hazel called. She followed after him, grabbing some clothes that she brought, and we couldn't hear them after that.

"Jeez," Thales muttered, "That's why I'm not in an relationship." I looked at her and we laughed again.  
"My ears still hurt..." Jason whined. I went over and cupped his ears, "Aw, I'm sorry, do you need anything, hun?"  
Jason punched me in the gut and walked over to mom, "Can I just go on Percy's bus today? Mom wouldn't mind."  
"Of course. You and Thalia both. I have some extra clothes for you two from last time you came, so you can wear that. Come with me, I'll give you clothes. Percy, go change, I'll make everyone breakfast." Mom left with Thalia and Jason to the laundry room.

I walked over to my room to change clothes. I opened the door and saw my towel on the floor from yesterday. My face turned red. The scene played in my head.

* * *

 _"EEP!" I heard a noise behind me and turned around to see Annabeth standing at the door with her face covered._  
 _"Holy Hera-" I grabbed the blanket next to me and covered my body. "Annabeth, what the fu-"_  
 _"Sorry, sorry, I didn't know this was your room." She moved her hands off her face. Her adorable, Bethy, face._  
 _Flustered, I managed to say, "It's fine, just wait outside, I'll come out in a second."  
_  
 _Annabeth zoomed out of my room and slammed the door. I put the blanket back on my bed and pulled out some clothes, I didn't even care what clothes they were.  
Holy crap, that was terrible. Why did that just happen?_

* * *

My face turned red just thinking about that. I shook away my nerves and picked some clothes to change into. I picked a lime green full-sleeve T-shirt and some jeans.  
I hopped into the shower. After, I changed into the clothes and combed my hair.  
Mom called me down, "Percy, come eat breakfast!" So, I grabbed my bag from the foot of my bed, I grabbed my phone, and I scuttled down to the kitchen.

"Ooh, blue pancakes!" I slipped into a seat next to Jason and Thales, dropping my bag on the back of my chair. Mom had made blue pancakes with bananas on top, covered in maple syrup with some whipped cream and a slab of butter on the top. "Oh my gods, Thales? Is that you? Damn, you could be a model with that fashion sense!" I exclaimed.

I looked over at Thalia, who was wearing a baby pink T-shirt and jeans. "Shut up, Percy." Thalia rolled her eyes and stuffed some pancake into her mouth. I did the same. She probably would've punched me if we weren't eating mom's world famous blue pancakes.  
Jason snickered. I glanced over at him. He was wearing a yellow shirt and gray sweatpants.

"So, what happened with Bethy yesterday?" Thalia asked.  
"What happened?" I asked.  
"You know, being gone for 20 minutes during the game. And, you two seemed a lot more friendly after that. She started calling you 'Kelp Head' and 'Seaweed Brain'." Thales said.

Mom gasped. "Wait, Annabeth is Wise Girl? Your Wise Girl? From Athens?" I nodded.  
"You knew Annabeth in Athens?" Jason asked.  
"Apparently..." I murmured.  
"How did you find out?" Mom asked.  
"She saw the necklace." I shrugged. I was trying to play it chill, but I wasn't sure if it was working. I thought that fi I played it cool, then I would be cool with it.

"You wear a necklace?" Thalia asked. I pulled out the bead bracelet and showed it to her.  
"Wow, how manly." Jason sniggered. I glared at him and he stopped laughing. In the locker room, I had gotten those many looks before. Honestly, I didn't mind anymore. No stares were going to make me feel uneasy about wearing this necklace.

"They're here!" Frank called, coming back to the kitchen with Hazel. Frank was wearing a dark green T-shirt and gray sweatpants. "We're ready to go."  
"See you guys at school! The party was great!" Hazel smiled, holding Frank's hand. She was wearing a gray sweater and jeans.

"Thanks, Hazel. See you at school. Frank... good luck." I wished him good luck and gave him a thumbs up. He smiled, nervously, and the two walked to the door. My mom opened the door for them, "Have a nice day you two!" After she closed the door, she left the kitchen to go to her room, I'm guessing.

"So, that was some party, huh." Thales smirked.  
"Yeah, mostly because of Bethy. She and Will brought a different feel to the party." Jason stuffed the lasts of his pancakes into his mouth. "Nice find, Thales." Thalia winked and went with Jason to drop their plates into the sink.

I scoffed and dropped my plate in with them, "Hey, I found her first." After I washed my plate, I saw that they were looking at me. Like, with a really judgy face.  
"About that... did anything happen in Greece with you and Bethy? You two seemed really... close..." Thalia said, grabbing her bag from the back of the chair and slipping it onto her.

 _Was I comfortable telling them about this before I even told Annabeth? I mean, I knew that they were going to find out eventually, but had Annabeth told anyone? Will had recognized me, but did he know everything? I had never really told anyone about what had happened in Greece, but, obviously, no one had asked me about Annabeth before. I'm sure Will had asked about me. Had Annabeth talked about me? What did she say about me? Oh gods, am I actually nervous about a girl?_

"Well?" Sparky said, "Did anything happen?" Thales and Jason were examining me. They both had their bags on their backs.  
"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked, grabbing my bag off the back of the chair.

"Did you screw anything up? Both literally and figuratively." Thalia said.  
"Thales!" I glared at her and she sniggered with Jason. "No, I didn't 'screw' her, and I didn't 'screw anything up'."  
"Okay, so, what was your relationship like in Greece?" Jason wiggled his eyebrows when he said, 'relationship'.

"Why are you even asking?" I questioned. "How does it matter?" I walked over to the living room and hopped onto the couch, followed by Thales and Sparky.  
"If there's any tension between you two, the group will notice." Thalia said.  
"Yeah, you two have a... history, I'm assuming. If there's some tension there, you should really clear that up before the group finds out and wants to get the details." Jason added.

"We're asking because if something is important to you, we're your family. Before the group gets involved, and before they can ask questions, talk to Bethy. Figure out where you two stand together," Thalia put a hand on my shoulder. I smiled and put my hand on top of hers.  
"Thanks, guys." I smirked. I was really lucky to have these two.

"KIDS?" Mom popped into the living room, "Ah, there you are. On my way to the store, I can drop you three off at school."  
"Okay." Thales and Jason stood up and walked to the door. Mom looked a little stunned.  
"Wow, no hesitation?" Mom exclaimed, "I was expecting a 'can you drop us away from the entrance?'"  
"Oh, I thought that was implied..." Jason smirked and mom bonked him on the head.  
"Let's go!" Mom announced. We all followed her to the door and threw our shoes on. We headed outside and got into the car to head to school.

I know that I shouldn't have be this paranoid, but my mind was racing. _Was I going to talk to Annabeth today? What would she say? Did she really remember me? Did she remember what we said when we left each other in Greece? What was the next step for us? How did she feel about me? Why were her eyes so gray and beautiful? How did she have the power to do this to me? To make me feel this way?_

 _This might be the only girl that has the power to make me this nervous. To make me this anxious._ I looked out the window, up at the sky. Everything reminded me of her. The gray clouds for her glimmering eyes. The brightness of the sun for her shining hair. The windy breeze, for how I felt when I saw her smiling. _Why can't you get out of my head, Wise Girl?_

 **Leo POV:**

"So, I guess we're working together, Valdez." She sat next to me and placed her books on the table.  
"Yup." I glanced over at her. Her caramel hair swayed in the sunlight (we were next to the window) and her brown eyes were breathtaking. She was wearing a white top with ruffles around the neck, and jeans. "Let's do it, Sunshine!"

Calypso rolled her eyes and handed a copy of the book we were reading. I flipped the book open and read. Our assignment was to read this book, then, discuss it and answer some questions with a partner. It was technically a project, as we had to do it after class too.  
"'Together'?" I asked. She nodded. There was a selection of 3 books to pick from: 'Together', 'Jump', and 'Light's out'. "I've read the other two, so I wanted to read this one." She said, reading.

"Wow, maybe I should call you 'bookworm' now." I smirked.  
"Yeah, maybe I should call you 'prick' now, if we're going by that logic." She said, then looked up and stuck her tounge out at me. I did too. I felt my heart skip a beat. Normally, I would be concerned, but I always felt this way around Calypso. "Now, read. I'm not failing this project because of you, Valdez."

For the first time ever, I read a book. Well, at least, that's what you're probably thinking.

As hard as it seemed to believe, I read on a daily basis. Not stories, though. More like, instruction manuals for cars, boats, planes, motorcycles, heck, even coffee machines. I was always reading how things work or how things were put together.  
You would probably expect different from a kid like me, but I was a huge geek when it came to building, creating, and inventing. Those invention convention things? Yeah, I win every one. Well, sometimes Charlie wins. Usually, he doesn't care enough to participate though.

It was a little hard to focus with everyone talking in the background, but I got really into my work when I was working. Nothing else mattered honestly. If Travis and Connor were in this class and pulled a prank, I wouldn't even look up. And it being a Stoll brothers prank, that's pretty impressive.  
Before I knew it, class was over and we were leaving.

"How far did you get, Valdez?" Calypso asked me. _Oh gods, I had almost forgotten that she was sitting next to me._  
"Page 108." I responded, standing up and getting my things together.  
"Wow. Page 97." Calypso stood up too, "Touché." She held her hand out. I shook her hand while smirking and picked up my stuff. "Can we sit together at lunch?" Calypso asked me. I stopped walking.

"Lunch?" I asked, my voice an octave higher. My face was most likely pink, but I don't know for sure.  
"Yeah, you know, to read together for the project." She faced me. "Or, are you busy?"  
"No, I'll sit with you." I blurted. She smiled and sauntered over to her locker. "Later, Valdez!" She waved at me.  
"Later, Sunshine!" I waved back at her, a huge grin appearing on my face. I scuttled away to see Piper at her locker.

She was wearing a lavender T-shirt with a black skirt that went up to about her knees. Her hair was braided, as usual, and her dark eyes were still shifty. They were always changing colors, but looked a little more brown right now.

I wrapped my arms around her waist and picked her up. It seems like I'm weak, but I'm fit enough to lift a Piper.

"EEEK!" Piper screeched and waved her arms at me, trying to shake me off, "LEO, PUT ME DOWN!" I held her up higher and snorted.  
"What's the magic word, Beauty Queen?" I yelled?  
"I WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE TARTARUS!" She yelled. I laughed and released her. Part of me thought that she was going to punch me, but she started giggling instead. I would never get tired of hearing Piper's laugh. We started laughing so loud, that people started staring at us. Jason included. He walked over to us.

He was wearing a yellow shirt and gray sweatpants. "Hi, um, are you okay?" Jason questioned us.  
"Yeah, Leo's just being Leo." Piper ruffled my hair and I swatted her hands away. "Oh, how was morning at the Jackson's?"  
Jason started laughing. I was a little confused why. "Did something happen at the Jackson's?" I asked.

"Aunt S-Ms. Jackson woke us up with an air horn." Jason said.  
Me and Piper started laughing. "Oh wait, you're serious? Oh man, I missed it!" I whined. We all laughed again.  
"Come on, let's go to class." Piper grabbed her things, and the three of us headed to class, laughing like there was no tomorrow.

 **Thalia POV:  
**  
"Shit and crap are the same thing. They're the same!" Grover slammed his fist into the table and I hardcore flinched back to reality.

"Sure, but you can't always replace them and have it mean the same thing." Percy said. "Crap is what you say to censor yourself with mom. Unless you're Frank, then FUUUUUUUUDGE is fine." He winked at Frank, who punched Percy in the shoulder. "Shit is what you say when your hanging with your friends. Or, here at lunch."  
"Hm... I guess that's true." Grover put his hand on his chin.

Piper and Jason walked over to the table, hugging each other. "Pipes, I'm dying here, vent with me." I hung my tounge out of my mouth and tilted my head up.  
"Coming, Thales!" Piper sat down next to me and picked up an apple from the table. "Vent, away."  
"My heart hurts... seeing you and my brother fondling each other." I grinned.

"THALIA!" She punched me in the arm and I snickered. "My heart hurts seeing your heart hurt because, fondling." She put a hand to her chest.  
"My heart hurts seeing your heart hurt seeing my heart hurt because, fondling."  
"My heart hurts seeing your heart hurt seeing my heart hurt seeing your heart hurt because, fondling.  
"My heart hurts seeing your heart hurt seeing my heart hurt seeing your heart hurt seeing my heart hurt because, fondling." I put my heart to my chest too.  
"My heart hurts seeing your heart hurt seeing my heart hurt seeing your heart hurt seeing my heart hurt because, the fuck is Percy doing right now." Pipes shifted my face over to see Percy standing on Annabeth's table with Jason screaming at him.

"JASON!" I got up and ran over to them. "The fuck?" Piper followed behind me.  
Jason ran his hands through his hair, "I give up, our cousin is too stubborn." He walked behind Piper.  
"Percy, get down from there." I groaned. "NEVER, DEAR COUSIN!" He said. He was wearing Annabeth's glasses, which totally wasn't that disturbing. I turned to Annabeth.  
She was wearing a maroon shirt that was buttoned up with some black pants. Her hair was done in a braid and her blue eyes were filled with enthusiasm.

"Please explain." I asked.  
She sighed, "Where do I start. I was reading my book, when Seaweed- Percy, came up to me, stole my glasses, and put them on. When I told him to give them back and get down, he said no.."

"Ugh... Alright..." I got up on the table with Percy, "What is it going to take to get you down."  
He put his hand up to his chin and pretended to be thinking. He whispered in my ear, "Return my jacket. The blue one."  
"Deal." We climbed off the table. Percy looked over at Annabeth, "We need to talk. Now."

He put Bethy's glasses back onto her face and whisked her out of the lunch room, and I looked over and Jason and Pipes.  
"That happened..." Jason remarked. Piper kissed him and I gagged and put two fingers to my mouth. Jason stopped, winked at me, and kept kissing Piper. After they broke apart (which felt like years...), we walked back to our lunch table, and tried to enjoy the rest of our lunch without Bethy or Perce.

 **Annabeth POV:  
**  
"Where are we going?" I asked, getting pulled along by Perce.  
"You'll see." He stopped for a minute, looked around, then kept stringing me along. The halls were surprisingly quiet without anyone around. We passed an art class with lots of people, who all looked up from their work to look at us. Yay, more attention for my social anxiety to mingle with.

"Kelp head, for real, where are we going?" I whined. He stopped and looked at me. I then realized we were holding hands and turned rose red.  
"I'm still not used to that yet. Hearing my old name." He sighed. "I'm taking you somewhere we can talk." Once again, we took off. We headed up the stairs and then headed up more stairs. Finally, we reached a door and Percy stopped.

"Where are we?" I asked, letting go of his hand.  
"You'll see. Go in." He opened the door for me and I stepped inside. There were more stairs (my feet were starting to hurt, like, how many stairs did we have at this school?) and I climbed up to reach another door. Percy came up after me, "Open the door, Wise Girl." I opened the door and stepped out to reveal no more stairs (finally), but something else entirely. Well, I was on the roof. Okay then.

"I thought it would be a good place to talk, since when we last talked, we were on my balcony at the old house in Greece." He said, walking out behind me. "Nice choice. I didn't even know we could get onto the roof." I said.  
He nodded, "I come here when I need some space. Things can get intense with everyone in the group sometimes. I like coming up here to clear my thoughts. No one can find me here anyway." That sounded nice. To have a place where you could be alone. I would've come here all the time to read and study!

"Wow. So, they don't know about this? Why did you tell me then?" I asked. He shrugged and leaned on the edge of the roof.  
(Btw, here's the rooftop. I wanted to add it in, because it's a pretty important spot in the story. An Percy was sitting behind the wall, with his back to it, facing the school.)  
"How couldn't I tell you? You're my Wise Girl." He said. I swooned at the word 'my'. I sat next to him, hugging my knees into my chest.

"So..."  
"Let's talk," Percy finished, "What do you want to ask?" I thought for a minute.  
"It's not really a question, just something I need to get off my chest." I looked at him and Percy nodded. "It's been hard being part of the group."

Percy shot me a confused face and I explained, "Well, you guys aren't the quietest people... you get a lot of attention.'  
"N-"  
"And I would know, because I was one of the people who paid attention to you all." Percy closed his mouth. "Now that I'm hanging out with you guys, everyone's paying attention to me! Everywhere I look, pairs of eyes are following me. And, at first, it was kind of cool, being the center of attention, I'll admit. But now, I'm just uncomfortable. And, I want to keep hanging out with you all, but..."  
"But what?"  
"It's too hard." I murmured.

"Wise Girl, you were born to face challenges. Anything that happens, I'm by your side, even though you don't need me. I get that social anxiety is a big problem for you, but I need to be honest with you. It's going to take a while. But, it does get easier. And I know it seems like nothing coming from me, but at first, I was just as bad as you."

"Really?" I asked. I couldn't imagine Percy being like me.  
"Really. Without the good grades and Wisdom. Other than that, I was a geek. Thales and Jason helped me get more confident, but before that, I was a total wreck. Now, I'm going to help you get more confident. One step at a time."

I smiled at that. "Sounds better than being alone."  
"By a longshot. You'd never be alone anyway, you'd have me." I turned into a tomato (red), and smiled, insanely. "Now, anything you want to ask?"  
It wasn't that I didn't have anything to ask him, I just had so many questions, that I was thinking of the right one to ask.

"Why did you move from Greece?" I asked.  
"It was dad. His work brought him to America, and he decided that California was great place to settle down. Especially after talking to your dad about it, here just seemed like a great area. Plus, Thales and Jason were already here." He said.  
"Well, how was life in Greece?" I asked, in my fake, posh accent. He playfully shoved me.

"Well, things changed. We moved, again, though I liked the old house better. Things got more complicated with mom and dad. I started seeing dad less and less. I only saw him on Saturdays after that. Eventually, mom and dad patched things up for me, and decided to move here as a family. I started seeing dad on the weekends and certain holidays. We met Thalia and Jason for the first time and got really close. As you saw, they're pretty close to mom."

I nodded and softly smiled. It seems like it's boring, but I could listen to Percy talk all day.

"But they love dad too."  
"Who doesn't?" I chuckled. He looked confused for a second.  
"Ah, I forgot you met dad." Perce rubbed his head.  
"I didn't. Remember, he helped me find my dad."

"I remember how I met you, Wise Girl." Percy took my glasses off and put them down next to him.  
He smirked and put a hand over my shoulder like we used to as kids. Doing this as kids was fun and didn't really matter. Now that I'm older, I was blushing like crazy. I knew that this was just Kelp Head, but it was also Percy Jackson: most popular at Mount. High School. And, he was super hot. Like, REALLY hot.

I leaned my head on his shoulder and I went into anxiety mode. My mind spewed questions. Do I smell bad? Do I look really ugly? Why was he so comfortable with me? Why was he so good looking? How am I the girl he's doing this with? How does he feel right now? Am I ready for this? Am I overthinking this? (?Answer: Yes) NO, Fight this Chase. Come on, remember what Percy said, no more anxiety. I took a deep breath.

"I have a question." Percy spoke up. I looked up at him. "Have you told anyone about me?"  
"Well, I told Will that I had met you in Greece. I didn't tell him anything that important. Just that you helped me find my dad at the Parthenos, and that we were pretty close. Why, did you?" I asked.  
"No, not really. I mean, I told mom. She wanted to know everything about you when I told her." We laughed together. I put my head back on his shoulder and just sat there.

It was bliss.

"Are-are you okay?" Percy moved to look at me. I realized that I was crying. _Damn it_ , why was I so emotional.

"Fine, I'm fine..." I turned my head away. "Just, old memories."

He turned my head back to face him and wiped a tear away from my cheek.

"I have you back. I lost you. I thought I would never see you again. But, you're here now." I sniffled. "I missed you so much, Percy." I collapsed into him. He wrapped his hands around me.

"I missed you too, Annabeth. Everyday. I thought of coming to find you everyday when I was in Greece."  
It felt like we were hugging there for eternity. He was really here. Kelp Head. I had thought about him everyday, and here he was. Nothing could take him away from me now. We pulled apart.

"We should go... Class starts soon." I said. "I'm glad we talked."  
Perce smiled, "Yeah, same." He got up and held his hand out for me to get up. I blushed and let him pull me up. "I'm glad I got my Wise Girl back."  
"I'm glad I got my Kelp Head back." I smiled back at him and we walked back to class.

 **Percy POV:  
**  
The halls were louder now than before and more crowded. People flooded the hallways, rushing to class. I looked to my left and Annabeth was walking by me. Her braided hair swayed as she walked, and her hands were in her pockets as we walked down the hall.

"What class do you have next?" I asked her, trying to break the silence. I mean, that moment was intense. She started crying! Damn, why were her puppy eyes so adorable? But I got what she was saying. When we saw each other for the last time in Greece, we had a serious moment there too.

"Advanced Pre-Cal. You?" She asked. God, I loved her voice.  
"Algebra 1." I responded. "Wanna walk together, our classes are close together."  
Annabeth looked around. I looked around too and realized that she was feeling some anxiety about walking together. Everyone was looking at me and Annabeth, why didn't I se it sooner? Well, after all this time, I'd gotten used to being looked at.

 _What do I do? I can't force her to come, but I really want her to break out of her dense anxiety bubble. And, I really want to walk with her to class. Is that selfish of me? That is selfish of me. But I can't help it! I just got my Wise Girl back.  
_  
"Hey," I whispered. "It's okay if you don't want to. But if you do," I held my hand out, "I'll be right here."  
Annabeth looked at my hand for about 10 seconds, but those 10 seconds probably felt like an eternity to her. My heart was pounding. I felt lightheaded and my stomach filled with butterflies.  
She grabbed my hand and I smiled. We walked to her locker and I waited for Annabeth to get her things.

"Thanks." She said, pulling books out of her locker.  
"For what?" I asked, confused.  
She closed her locker and looked at me, like in one of those movies. You know, one of those really cheesy movies? Except Annabeth made it feel really amazing and gasp worthy.

"For believing in me. I mean, you're one of the only people who have tried to help me with my anxiety." She looked at the floor after that.

I smiled, "Come on, class won't wait for us." Annabeth trudged along behind me as I walked to my locker. I swirled the lock around and pulled the door open. A paper flew out and I grabbed it off the floor.

It read: _Hey, Percy! It's Drew Tanaka! Just wanted to tell you that I was having a party this week and was hoping you'd come to it as my date! I was going to take Octavian, but he's really busy, and completely fine with us going together. It's today, 6:00. I'll see you at my place, if you're interested!_  
 _-Drew Tanak_ _a **  
**_  
I ripped it in half and threw it into the back of my locker. Drew had probably wasted about 40 pieces of paper asking me out. I wish she'd get the message. I mean, maybe I used to have a thing for her, but she turned so mean and vindictive.

"What was that?" Jason asked from his locker. His and Thalia's locker were close to mine because our last names started with J's.  
"A note from the devil." I murmured. Thalia chuckled, "What'd she say?"  
"Party at her place, 6." I pulled out my books and pencil case.

"You going?" Jason asked.  
"No, I'm not giving her another chance to get in my pants. She can find someone else. She probably didn't even tell Octavian, honestly." I scoffed. Like a brick to Jason's face, (long story) I remembered that Annabeth was right behind me.

 _Oh gods, did she hear that? Oh no, oh no, no, no. What is she thinking about?_ Before anyone could say anything else, I fished my things out and switched the subject. "So, what classes do you two have?"

"Advanced Geometry." Thales said, closing her locker.  
"Advanced Pre-Calculus." Jason said, shutting his locker too. "Same as Bethy."

"Aww, what a cute nickname." A loud voice said from the end of the hall. Guess who it was? Here are some obvious choices:  
1) Frank  
2) Annabeth  
3) Thalia  
4) Jason  
5) Drew

DING, DING, DING, it was Frank.  
Nah, nah, I'm kidding, it was Drew.

Yaayyyyyyyyy.  
"So, are you coming to the party or what, Percy?" She asked, walking towards me.  
"Nah, I'm busy today." I shrugged. "Ask Octavian. Maybe he'll go with you." Jason sniggered at that. Thales did too.

"I told you, he's busy." Drew stated.  
"Busy with what?" I requested. She stood there for a second.  
"School work." She smiled, like a fake. Who takes that long to think? I could tell it was a bluff, even though she tried to hide it with her voice. (Charmspeak)  
"Yeah right, you don't even know what type of school work it is." Jason scoffed.

"Oh yeah? What school work is Piper working on." Drew spat.  
"For your information, she has Geometry homework and an English paper." Jason said.  
"For your information, I was talking to Percy, not you." Drew glared at Jason, then looked back at me. "Come on, Percy. Let's talk." Drew smiled. Not going to lie, Drew was pretty. She was gorgeous, or at least, I thought that when I first met her.

Then, she turned into a psycho who hooked up with every guy she laid her eyes on that looked 'pretty good'. Now, whenever I looked at her, I only saw what was on the inside of her. But, I did pity her. She needed this attention. Without it, she was a no one, with no goals and no purpose.

"No, I'm going to go to class. Let's go, Annabeth. I took Annabeth's hand and walked to class. I felt someone pull me back.  
"Don't." She said, stiffly. "Or else."

I shivers go up my back. "Annabeth, I'll see you after class, okay?"  
Annabeth's eyes looked worried, but she nodded and walked away to class. I looked over at Thales and Jason, "You two can leave too. I got this."

"Perce-" Thales stepped forward.  
"Please. I'll talk to you later." I pleaded with my eyes. Thales and Jason walked away to class and caught up with Annabeth. As they left, I realized that the halls were empty and I was now late. Damn it.

Facing back to Drew, I muttered, "So, what do you want?"  
She smirked at me, "To talk."

 **CLIFFHANGER!**

 **OH MAH GODS, Can I just say, 5700 words. Like, throw me a bone, because I feel accomplished. Until I remembered that I'm still late.**  
 **I went more Percabeth (aww) in this chapter, and added in some Caleo (aww) too. I'm going to add more SOLANGELOOO (aww) to the next chapter, and get some Gruniper action (aww) in there also.**

 **If you have any suggestions, hit me up, because I would love to know. Hope you all like the chapter!**  
 **Your gurl, KHO!**


	8. Book Club

**Hey people! This is a REALLY short chapter, only because I needed to wrap the day up and move on. This chapter was mostly about the whole Percy vs. Drew thing anyway. I am almost done with the next one, I only need to edit it.  
**  
 **Please, don't hate me! Holy Hera, you people really wanted me to update! I was so busy this week with the packing and stuff. I'm sorry, the next chapter might be my last chapter until around the end of August, as I'm going on vacation and most likely won't be able to write. There is a small chance (like, microscopic,) that I can update from there, but sorry to disappoint in advance. I really wish I could update, but life goes on.  
**  
 **Sorry for the long af message, if you didn't read it, I don't blame you. Onto the chapter!  
**  
 **Percy POV:**

"So, what do you want?" I muttered, facing back to Drew.

She smirked at me, "To talk."

"About?"  
"What do you think, Percy. What's the reason that you stayed back here instead of going to class?" Drew requested.

"Annabeth." I responded, instantaneously.

"Exactly. When are you going to tell her the truth?" She asked.

"She already knows. Annabeth found out at the party." I stated, flatly.

Drew blinked, "You mean you invited her to one of the parties? How did she find out without you telling her?"

On a normal day, I would love to piss off Drew and tell her, 'Annabeth was in my room and saw me with a necklace that she gave me in Athens, right after I'd finished taking a shower.' Though, if I had told her that, she wouldn't have taken it out on me. And that was the reason I was out here. She'd go after Annabeth. "I guess she pieced it together." I mumbled. "She's smart."

Drew laughed, "If she was smart, she would've stayed away from all of you."

I turned around and started walking to class. "Wait, I'm not done."

"Then what do you want? I want a direct answer this time." I said, in a harsh tone.

"Percy..." Drew walked up to me, "I want to be with you. You should be happy. Just let me make you feel that way. We've done it before," She smiled and grabbed my hands, "We can do it again."

"We can..." I said, "But we won't. Because I'm not happy with you, Drew." I pulled my hands away from her.

"Just one date. Let me show you how I feel about you." She pleaded.

"No! We've played this game too long, Drew. I'm done, I quit."

"You can't. If you don't, I'll tell Annabeth."

"Tell her what? She already knows!" I yelled.

"She doesn't know about your suspicion of her being 'Unwise Girl.'" Drew smiled. "Until I say so, you keep playing the game." Drew winked and walked away, "Get to class, Perce. You have a long day ahead of you."

I sighed. The cycle was relentless. There was always something Drew could do to have me under her control. For now, all I could do was get to class.

I took another deep breath, and walked back to class.

 **Annabeth POV:  
**  
"Annabeth!" Someone called out. I still wasn't used to being noticed, so my first instinct was to look away. After a second, I turned back around.

It was Grover, waving me over. I got a few looks as I walked over to him, "Hey, Grover."

"So, how's school?" He asked.

"Fun." I responded. Grover chuckled at that, probably thinking that I was a huge nerd. "So, what's the real reason you called me over?"

He was trying to look confused. "Huh?"

I rolled my eyes, "You definitely didn't call me over here to ask how school is, so what is it? Need help with homework? Want to study for a test?" I requested.

"No! I mean..." Grover looked over at something. I followed his gaze to find Juniper standing at her locker. She was wearing a blue T-shirt with an earth on it. The shirt read, 'Go Green!' and she was wearing a pair of jeans with it.

"Ohh, okay then." I remarked. "Come with me."

"Whaa-" Grover stumbled. I pulled him along as I walked over to Juniper.  
"Nu uh." He pulled my hand away, "No! You can't just," He sighed. "I mean, what do I say?" I grinned a little. It was nice seeing people so in love. And, I never thought someone would be asking me advice on love.

"Just be yourself. I can tell that you two are perfect for each other.

We got a little closer as Juniper closed her locker and turned to face us, her face converting into a bright smile, then into a bashful beam.

"Hey, Juniper! Meet Grover. Grover, this is Juniper!" The two of them shook hands after I introduced them.

"N-Nice to meet you, Juniper." Grover fumbled his words. "You too." Juniper giggled. After an uncomfortable silence, Grover nervously looked at me and mouthed the words, _"Help me!"_

I rolled my eyes and mouthed back, _"Just be yourself!"  
_ "So, I heard that the both of you like nature, huh."

"Yeah!" Juniper smiled, "I mean, it was pretty obvious from the shirt." She motioned towards her 'Go Green' shirt.

"Well, there's a fundraiser to help save endangered species at school today at 6. You two should go together," I suggested. Juniper's face turned pink and looked down at the floor, grinning like crazy.

"Okay. I mean, if you want to..." Grover mumbled.

"Of course!" Juniper blurted, looking back up. "Um, I mean, sure. I love going to fundraisers."

Grover chuckled, "Alright. I'll see you there. I'm gonna head outside now." Grover trudged outside. At the door, I saw him turn around and mouth the words, _"Thank you."_  
I looked over at Juniper. She seemed a little star-struck and stunned. She glanced over at me, "What just happened?"

"You, just got yourself a date." I smirked. She shoved me a little, playfully of course. I could tell she was excited and nervous, which I would be too. I would also be a little terrified. Which, she was.

"W-What will mom say?" She shivered.

"Oh gods," I sighed. Juniper's mom was really strict, yet distant. She didn't care what Juniper did, but she didn't want her to enjoy. "Just tell them you're going to the library to study."

"They'll find out! Last time, mom went to search for me at the library, and when I came home, she didn't let me go to another fundraiser for 3 months." Juniper screeched. I felt for her. I don't know what I'd do without dad. I mean, if I wasn't allowed to the library...

"Hey, don't worry. Just ask her, sincerely. You might want to talk to someone. I mean, she barely lets you do anything!" I exclaimed.

Juniper fumbled with her fingers and murmured, "How can I?"

I gave her a hug and held her tight, "It's going to be alright, you'll see. It always gets better. And hey, at least Grover wants to spend time with you!" I released her from my grasp.

"Yeah." She sniffled and took a deep breath. "You go, I need to talk to a teacher about the homework."

"Okay. Bye, Juniper."

"Bye, Annabeth." She smiled, faintly, and rushed out of sight. I took a deep breath too, and walked outside.

It was warm outside, but not too hot. My hair swayed in the breeze, and I felt the warmth shining onto my face. Not too far away, there was a little table. No one was there, so I sat down and pulled out a book as I waited for the bus to arrive.

The story I was reading was about two guys who are really passionate about inventing things. They create a something so incredible, that it can think on it's own. It gains somehow gains consciousness and starts doing things that endanger others. The boys need to shut it off before it can hurt anyone else. They meet a girl and her little sister who can help them in taking down the invention.

These books were some of my favorites. Though, I loved all kinds of books, all shapes and sizes (though they usually just happen to be thicker, like said book).

"Hey, Bethy!" I looked up and Piper and Jason were standing in front of the table.

"Hi, Pipes. Jason." The two of them sat at the tiny table with me.  
"What are you reading?" Jason asked, curiously.  
I flipped the book off the table to reveal the title, "It's called, 'Autonomous Titan.'"  
Jason gasped, "Ooh, I read that last year, summer break! It's a really good book, isn't it!  
"Yeah! I love the part when they fall into the pit to save Liles and Jane, and the two of them are have already escaped!" I screeched.  
"And then Jane is like, 'Oh, just a sliver too late, every time.'" Jason added. The two of us started laughing.

Piper smiled, "Awh, my two nerds. You two could start a book club!" Jason glared at Pipes and she put her head on his shoulder.  
I giggled with her. "You two are so cute together."  
She grinned, "I know, he's adorable, right?" Jason rubbed messed up Piper's hair and she messed up his hair. Those two... I wish I had something like that.

I looked over to my left, and saw Will standing next to Meg.

"One sec, I'll be right back." I got up and walked over to where the two of them were standing. My phone dinged.

I pulled it out and read the text from my dad: "I have a meeting at the school today, I'll be back a little later. Let yourself inside!"  
I texted back: "No problem, see you at home."

My phone was slid back into my bag and I looked up. The two of them were gone! I looked around a little, but couldn't seem to find them. _Guess who I did found instead! Because my life is amazing._

"Well, hello there." Luke said. "Looking for anyone?" He was wearing a gray tank top with some black jeans.

I swiftly avoided him, like anyone would, and walked over to find them. Where are they?

"Maybe you didn't hear me, so I'll ask again. Are you looking for anyone?" It was Luke coming from behind me. After just being jump scared, I jumped (literally), and turned around instantaneously.

"Yes, I am."

"Who are you looking for?" He requested.

"Why do you care?" I asked.

"You couldn't tell? I'm trying to make small talk. I want to talk to you, Annabeth." Luke followed me as I walked away.

"Seems like you wanna do more than talk, going back to the other day. You even have Drew on my tail." I scoffed.

"That, was not on purpose. I never meant to get you hurt." He grabbed my hand and faced me. "Look, I want to be your friend, Annabeth. I always have. Remember in middle school, when you helped Juniper win the spelling bee on that last word by mouthing it to her? Or when you sang with Will on stage, because it was his first time, and he was scared?" He made eye contact with me, "I need a friend like you, Annabeth."

I was a little floored. How did he know all of that? Was this all a prank? "Get away from her!" Looking past Luke, I saw Jason. He was next to Piper, Thales, Nico, and Grover.

"Leave us alone, Jason!" Luke yelled. "Do you want to talk somewhere else?" He whispered to me.

The others ran over to us.

"Annabeth, come on, let's go." Piper held my hand, reassuring me.

"Guys, just leave us alone, we need to talk." Luke groaned.

Grover sniggered, "What about, your regrets? I'm sure the ladies love that, Luke. We all know you pit Drew against Annabeth."  
"You have no proof," Luke huffed.  
Grover imitated in high pitch voice, "'Drew, Annabeth rejected me! Pretty please, help me feel less turned down by helping me get revenge, because I'm too much of a pansy to do it myself!'"

Thalia and Nico laughed at that. I laughed in my head.

"Fuck you." Luke snarled. He looked at me, "Annabeth, I meant what I said."  
He walked away, without a care in the world.

Piper sighed, "You okay, Bethy?" I nodded and she put her arm around my shoulder.

Nico huffed, "Screw him. You know he was lying, right?"

I hesitated. "I... I don't know. I mean, he seemed pretty sincere."

After that, there was an awkward silence, followed by Jason asking, "Can I talk to Annabeth for a second?"

"Yep." Grover, Nico and Thales walked over to Reyna, Hazel and Frank.  
Piper squeezed my hand and Jason's hand, then walked off with them.

I looked around at everyone and Jason saw how uncomfortable I was. He pulled me behind a tree, but it wasn't really awkward. He was like a big brother, almost.

"He's playing you." Jason stated. "You should know that. He doesn't want to be you're friend, Annabeth. He's lying to you."

I said, "How do you know that? He gave such specific examples, and he seemed really heartfelt. I mean, we all make mistakes, we are human after all..."

"He isn't making any mistakes right now. He is doing this on purpose! Every girl; he does this to every girl! First, he embarrasses them. Second, he apologizes, and does nice things so you'll like him. Third, he separates you from your friends and family. And lastly, he makes you fall for him, then drops you, and moves on."

I was getting a little flustered, "How do you know that? Maybe he's turning a new leaf! It's not like he did it to you or anything!"

"He did it to Thales!" Jason screeched. I was shocked.

"What did he do to Thales?" I asked. Jason sighed.  
"He separated her from all of us. Then, he made her 'fall in love' and dropped her like she was worthless. We were there to pick her back up. I was the one comforting her every night, as she cried in her room, not Luke."

I put my hands on his shoulders, "I'm sorry. I had no idea."  
In Jason's eyes, I could see a flash of light, that dissipated.

"Hey! What's up... guys..." A familiar face swooped by Jason and I and immediately realized the tension. "Um, what the-"  
"Perce, not now." Jason looked down at the floor.  
"What the hell? Did something happen to you, Annabeth?" Percy asked, genuinely concerned.  
I took a breath, "I'll call you later, Percy." He didn't budge. "Please?"  
Percy looked at me, like, stared at me, and then left. _Okay then. Not awkward at all...  
_  
Jason looked back up. "Now do you understand why you can't trust him? Annabeth, maybe he has changed. Maybe he is different, and really cares about you. But, I can't let you take that risk. It happened to Thalia, but I'm not gonna let him fuckin' play you too."  
I smiled, faintly. Even if Jason was coming on a little strong, I knew he was trying to protect me, which made me happy. I could see why Piper loved him so much. "I get it. I'll stay away."

Jason looked relieved. "Thank you. Now, let's put that behind us, and go home."

"Sure." I dropped my hands from Jason's shoulders and walked out from behind the tree. We walked over to our buses and I jumped into a seat. Most were taken, so I sat next to Nico, as Will left early for a dentist appointment.

I couldn't wait to get home and sleep all of today off, because I definitely needed to.

 **Hey!**  
 **Like I said, pretty short chapter, but I mean, it was decently sized.**  
 **If you couldn't tell, I had a major writer's block while writing this chapter. Sorry again, for the long wait! I know the chapter was kind of crappy, but hey, we met Gruniper. (AND THEY HAVE A DATE!) I also got my first review (you know who you are and thank you), so that was exciting.  
**  
 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter!  
**  
 **Your gurl, KHO!**


	9. Calling: Aquaman

**Hey people! Enjoy the chapter, I'll leave more talk for the end~**

 **Annabeth POV:  
**  
I awoke to the melody of my alarm. I turned it off and jumped out of bed. It was already Thursday, and I felt as if it was still Monday. A lot had happened in 3 days. I stumbled over to the bathroom, half asleep. After I freshened up, I washed my face with an exfoliating scrub and combed my hair back into a high ponytail. I took a shower and changed into some clothes for school.

I was wearing a black off the shoulders shirt and a pair of jeans. I put on some lip balm and lotion (lemon, duh).

When I was ready, I grabbed my bag and threw my phone inside. I stopped and pulled it back out, realizing that I had gotten a notification.

 _You have 1 missed call from: Kelp Head.  
_  
I unlocked my phone and called him back. 'Ring; ring; ring." As it rang, I felt my throat stiffen up.

 **Me** : Hello?  
 **KH** (Kelp Head): Hello?  
 **Me** : Hey, you called?  
 **KH** : Ah, yeah. Did anything weird happen with Jason the other day? I mean, you two seemed really shaken.  
 **Me** : Oh? Um, we were just talking.  
 **KH** : Something with Luke? I heard bits through the wonder that is gossip.  
 **Me** : *Chuckle* nice. Yeah, he was just... talking to me.  
 **KH** : What? Was he threatening you? Did he say anything from Drew? (Worried bc of Drew drama.)  
 **Me** : Hey, don't worry. He was asking for me to be his friend.  
 **KH** : Don't trust him. He is always doing stu-  
 **Me** : Ah, ah, ah, I got the message. Jason gave me the talk yesterday.  
 **KH** : He's like a helicopter, but I don't know what I'd do without him.  
 **Me** : I can see why. Well, I need to go eat breakfast. See ya at school, Kelp Head.  
 **KH** : All right. See ya, Wise Girl.

I ended the call, still smiling, and dropped my phone back into my bag. Then, I trudged down the stairs to meet dad at the breakfast table, as usual.

"Hey, pumpkin!" Dad smiled warmly. "How are you?"  
"Great. You?" I asked.  
"Splendid. Let's dig in!" Dad sat down at the table and I joined him. In front of me was toast and a couple blueberries. We ate together and talked.

"So, we haven't talked in a while. Sorry, I've been busy with meetings."

"Hey, it's not your fault. I get it, it's a job." I pardoned. I mean, dad is doing all he can to provide for me and pay for Malcom's college fees.

"Thanks, sweetie. So, how was your first party of high school?" He asked, biting into some toast.

"Oh, it was great. Everyone's so nice, and Percy's house had just the right feel to it." I smiled and took a sip of the milk that was next to me.

"...Percy?" Dad asked. Oh gods, I've made a terrible mistake.

"Ah, yeah, Thalia's cousin." I avoided eye contact. _SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT-  
_  
"Oh. I didn't know it was a boy. Why didn't you tell me?" Dad questioned, with that judgy smile on his face.

I swallowed, "It didn't come up in conversation." Dad chuckled and took another bite of his toast.

"So, you crushing on him?" Dad asked. My lips parted in horror and my eyes widened.

"DAD!" I screeched. A grin formed on my face and I covered it with my hands. "No!"

He laughed, "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. But really, what's he like? You at least owe me that."

I dropped my hands from my face, "Um, dad, remember that boy and his dad that helped me find you in Athens?"

"Of course, why?" He asked, quizzically.

"Well, his name was Percy," I mumbled. Looking up at dad, I bit my lip and saw his face change. First, it was a little confused. Then, it morphed into stunned. Finally, it converted back to confused, "Huh?"

"He moved here from Greece, and his name is Percy, and his dad is Poseidon." I said, a little less quiet.

Dad's mouth parted into a bright smile, "Really? How is he-"  
"I'll explain." I told dad about how Percy moved here with his family. He seemed surprisingly relaxed about everything, which was a little bit unexpected.  
"Okay... cool. Tell him I said hi when you see him at school today," Dad got up and washed his plate in the sink.  
"Cool? How are you cool with this? I mean, I'm not upset, but I expected you to be really confused." I got up out of my seat, still munching on my last piece of toast.  
He chuckled a little, "I knew he was moving here sometime, sooner or later."

"WHAT?" I exclaimed, "You knew?" I walked to the sink and washed my plate too.

"Yes, yes. Poseidon had told me many times about his suspicions that he might have to move to the US. And, I knew his cousins lived here. He was the one who helped me decide a good place to move, so I was pretty sure he would want to move to a good place also."

Not gonna lie, I had no idea about this. I mean, it should've been a little bit obvious, but I had no memory of dad and Percy's dad talking.

"Ah, okay then. I'll tell him you said hi." I grabbed my bag off the ground where I had placed it, and gave my dad a hug, "See you after school!"  
"See you, Princess!" I threw on my shoes and headed for the bus.

Noah wasn't at the bus stop today, so I was standing there alone. I was thankful for that, as it gave me some time to think.

 _I'm glad dad was so chill with that. And, I think I know why too. The REAL reason why. Ugh, I'm such a bad person! Dad has been juggling so much responsibility, and I haven't helped at all! You know what, I am going to start helping him. I'm going to take more responsibility around the house. And the first step is..._

I heard footsteps coming from the left, and it was Noah. He was on his phone, and didn't look up for a second. That was great for me.

The bus approached and I hopped on into a front seat. I pulled out the book I had been reading before, 'Autonomous Titan'.

After reading a couple pages, Nico sat next to me on the bus. He was wearing a navy blue sweatshirt and some black jeans. His face was pale, as usual and he seemed like he was in a pretty good mood for Nico.

"Hey, how are you?" I asked.  
"Meh, you?" He replied.  
"Good, just reading this book." I showed him the title.  
"Ahh, I remember Jason had read that book. Wouldn't shut up about it." Nico groaned. I smiled at that.  
"So, what's up? Any plans?"  
He thought for a second, then said, "Well, we're all most likely going to that Ice Cream Social."  
I was confused, "What? Ice cream social?"

The bus stopped and Will and a couple other kids got onto the bus.

"Hey, guys!" Will smiled, warmly. He wore a turquoise T-shirt and a pair of gray shorts. As per usual, his messy blonde hair was all over the place, and his blue eyes were soft, yet energetic. "How's it hanging?"

"I'm telling Bethy about the Ice Cream Social. She doesn't know what it is," Nico explained.  
Will nodded, "Ah, okay. The Ice Cream Social is an event they hold every year. Kids come to the school at like 5-ish, and we just make some sundaes and chill. Get it? Chill?" Nico and I were not amused, but that didn't stop Will from cracking up. I swear that for a split second I could've seen a smile on Nico's face as Will was laughing his heart out.

"So, you all go as a group usually?" I asked Nico.  
He nodded, "Yeah, usually. There was that one year we all split up, but we normally eat together. You're most likely coming with us, so yeah."

I froze up for a second. **(GET IT? LIKE AN ICE CREAM SUNDAE?!)** Was I ready to go to the social with them all? Ugh, I hated myself!  
They were all so nice to me, and they probably thought I didn't want to be seen with them. It was easy talking to them privately, I could at least do that now, but in public... It's different.

It's hard to explain. The feeling of having eyes on you, following you with every step. I had carved out a whole life dedicated to never feeling that way... but now I wasn't so sure. Spending time with the gang is totally worth it for me, but I really don't want accidents to happen again.

Like that scene in the lunch room with Drew. Or in the hallway the other day with Drew. Or outside with Luke.

I _hated_ feeling so paranoid!

"Most likely." I finished reading 2 or 3 chapters by the time we reached school. Our bus arrived late today, so everyone was already inside (No awkward encounters). I hopped out of the bus and said, "See you," to Will and Nico. I took a deep breath, _Here's to ice cream..._  
The swung the doors open and walked into the busy halls.

 **Will POV:**

"Lunch?" She asked, putting her arm out for me to grab it.

"Lunch." I looped my arm into hers, and we scuttled into the halls.

It wasn't too loud, as everyone was whispering their gossip throughout the halls. The halls smelled of really strong Axe cologne, so I held my breath.  
"Ugh, do guys think that girls really like this stuff? It's like they douse themselves in it!" Calypso scoffed.

I chuckled, "Oh, they'll do anything for girls. If there was a shop where someone sold deodorant and labelled it, 'Love Potion', they would be sold out in about 5 minutes." She chuckled too. We turned down into D hall, when people started gossiping about us. Nothing bad, just, 'OOoh, Will and Calypso are friends?' 'When did they start talking?'

Calypso shrugged, "Well, you'd do the same if it said, 'Love potion - Nico', am I right or am I right?" My lips parted in shock.

"NO! What are you even saying?" I hissed, turning my head towards her. She was laughing her head off, not caring in the slightest who saw her. "Stop laughing at mee-" I whined.

Gasping for breath, she managed to get out, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I can tell you two like each other. Honestly Sunboy, who do you think you're fooling?"

 _WHAT? Is it that obvious? Dammit, you'd think that being in theater I'd have better acting skills than this.  
_  
I whipped up some of my fantastic debating and acting skills. "Oh? Why would I like Nico, he's not even gay, to start-"  
"BWAHHHAHH," Calypso fell apart again, then realized I wasn't laughing. "Oh you're being serious? Bro, Nico is definitely gay. He came out to us."

I was stunned, but came up with another excuse. "Oh. I'm not his type anyway..." I mumbled.  
"Stop making excuses! I can tell when you're stalling, and it's right now." Damn, there goes debating this. "You don't even know what Nico's type is! You just thought he was straight, for fuck sake! Now, why in the hell, are you having so much trouble understanding that there's a chance someone else might like you?"

I swallowed. "It's not like anyone has before..." I whispered so no one except her could hear, "H-He might be my first crush..."

She gave me a faint smile, "I know, and I can't imagine how you feel right now, but I've known Nico for quite a bit of time. After someone he loved died-"  
"Bianca." I filled in. She looked puzzled.  
"Okay, when and where?"  
"He told me at the party." I didn't want her to read into it too much, so I left out a lot of detail.

"Okay... anyway, after she passed away, he became a lot more guarded. The old Nico that I knew was kind, and funny, and curious. He wore colors other than black and dark shades of purple and blue. But, people change." She whispered too, "On the inside, a part of him from before she died is still in there. A tip, don't treat him like someone damaged."  
"Treat him as you would want to be treated." She held my hand. "Now, lets get to lunch."

I walked away with her, keeping the advice in mind.

 **Frank POV:  
**  
"So, I hear there's the social today. We going or what?" Percy sat next to me with Jason and Leo.

"Ugh, I wanted to practice my archery today!" Thalia whined. She was dressed in a beige T-shirt that read 'mood.' and had a golden bow pin attached to it. She also wore some jeans, and her hair was up in a bun, which she pulled off pretty well.

"You can do that any day sis! We have to go to this! We missed last year as well!" Jason wailed. He had on a lime green shirt with white jeans. Biting into an apple, he combed his hands through his hair (which he was extremely sensitive about).

"Come on Thales, I'm not leaving without you." Silena stated. "You better haul your ass over to this school, 5 sharp." She was wearing a white crop top with baby pink jeans shorts. Her black hair was in springy curls on one side of her head. I had to hand it to her, she was stubborn.

"Without you, Reyna and I won't come! And if I don't come, Charlie won't come. And Leo won't come if Charlie can't come. And, yeah, Leo isn't a huge loss-"

Leo's mouth full with soft tacos stuffed into it, "HEY!" He frowned, "RUDE!"

Silena rolled her eyes, amused, "Yeah, yeah. Point is," she pointed at Thalia, "You better come."

Thalia flopped her head onto the table and groaned. "I NEED to practice tonight! I can't cancel now, my whole team is waiting for me." She picked her head off the table, " I won't let them down, period."  
Running away, Thalia yelled, "NEVER!" We were all stunned for a second, when Percy stood up, taking off his blue sweatshirt and tying it around his neck.  
I said, "What the fu-"

"STOP HER!" The gang split up and ganged up on Thalia. **(Hah.)** Me and Hazel stayed at the table on lookout.  
Truthfully, we didn't feel the need to chase Thalia around the lunch room, following Percy while he wore his 'cape' aka sweatshirt, holding up a sub as a sword while screaming, "EN GUARD!"

I pushed my plate aside and sat up on the table to look at Hazel. She was wearing a maroon sweater and a gray skirt that reached a little under her knees. Her beige boots went up to a little above her ankles and her curly cinnamon hair was frizzy, as per usual. Hazel realized I was looking at her and looked up at me. Her golden eyes were entrancing.  
She blushed and looked away, which made me blush too. I tilted her face back towards me. And planted a kiss on her forehead, which made her blush more.

"So, you want to go to the social this year?" She asked, changing the subject.

I shrugged, "Well, yeah. I want to go, I guess..." I felt her gaze on me. "I'd love to, honestly. It's the first big event of the year! After this, the next big event we have is the Halloween Party, and that's weeks away! Plus, we missed out on it last year. The real question is, do you want to go?"

She paused for a second. "Yeah. Honestly, we missed out on some sweet ice cream last year. But, only one condition." I nodded. "You have to let me meet your family this month."

I made a gagging noise, "What? Why?"

"Because you've met mine! I want to make this relationship a serious thing, and what's more serious than meeting your family? Unless, you're embarrassed of me, of course..." She trailed off.  
"...This again? Really?" I asked. She crossed her arms and looked away. "I'm NOT embarrassed of you! It doesn't have anything to do with that!"

"But why can't I meet them then! I want to see Grandma Zhang, and your mom and dad!" She whined, facing back to me.

"Because I'm not ready for you to meet them!" I babbled. My palms were getting sweaty, "I'm embarrassed of them, you know that! Remember when you met dad after the violin performance? He was so rude to you!"

"He wasn't rude! It was the truth, I sucked last year! I sat at the back of the orchestra and played about every note out of tune. What could he say that wasn't rude and truthful?" Hazel sighed and sat on the table with me. She leaned onto my shoulder and I put my arm around her.

"I love you. I just want them to love you too..." I whispered.  
"I want them to love me too." She said, still a little salty. "But you're enough."

I looked up and Annabeth and Thalia were standing there. They seemed like they had just came and hadn't heard. That, or they were just acting like they hadn't. I was thankful either way.

"HIDE US!" Thalia screeched. I got off the table and Hazel did too.  
"What the heck?" Annabeth asked. She seemed sort of confused, which was acceptable I guess.  
"NOW! Out, go, go, go, go-" Thalia pushed all three of us outside. You'd think I'd have gotten used to this by now, but nope. We got into the halls and Thalia looked at Annabeth.

"Where is a safe hiding place that Percy won't go to?" Thalia asked.

Annabeth blinked, "Hiding place?"

Thalia rolled her eyes, "They're forcing me to go to the social, so I need to hide before Aquaman can force me. Now, hiding place please?"  
"Why would I know? I've never needed to hide, I blend in quite fine without a hiding place." She scratched her head, uncertainly.

"I know you love architecture, Annabeth, you probably know some spot in this school. Now, tell me before I go into rage mode. And you wouldn't like me in rage mode," Thalia warned.  
Hazel whispered into her ear, "You really wouldn't."

She thought for a second, then told us, "Okay, fine, it's in the library."

Thalia smiled brightly, "Ah, somewhere Percy would never go." I sniggered a little, then Hazel elbowed me and I was zipped.

We made a beeline for the library. Luckily, it was pretty close to the cafeteria. I looked at Hazel, who still seemed upset with the fact I couldn't let her meet the family.

I just couldn't! There was no way. Mom, sure. Grammy, in a miracle, sure. Dad, oh gods. No way. No way.

I loved Hazel, and I saw something in her that dad and granny didn't see. They were a LITTLE bit inclusive with family. They preferred arranged marriage, even though him and mother didn't have one! But if I argued that, dad would say, 'Hey, you meet a girl like your mother in war, she's all yours.'

We had almost gotten to the library, when we were cut off in the halls.

"Stop, Thalia! This ends now." Percy still had his costume on, with the addition of a scarf covering his mouth (it looked like Silena's).  
"Nu uh!" Thalia ran for the library and Annabeth followed her.  
"Distract them!" She called, running after Thales.

Me and Hazel stepped up to them and made a barrier so they couldn't cross past us.  
"Hazel, come on hun," Piper smiled warmly, "Come here to us."

Hazel twitched a little, but stayed put, "I WILL NOT FALL FOR YOUR CHARMSPEAK PIPES!" Piper looked a little shocked, yet stepped down.

"Percy stepped up, looking heroic as ever." Percy said, walking in front of everyone else.

"Why are you talking about yourself in third person?" I asked.

Percy grinned, "Because I'm awesome." He posed for a couple seconds, like the dork he is, then turned to us.

"Frank, it was fun while it lasted. Let's go now, bud." Percy patted me on the shoulder and waited for me to move. I didn't. I was tempted, sure, but I wouldn't go down without a fight.

"Yeah, no thanks. I'm just gonna stand here with Hazel and let them escape." I said.

Percy cursed, "Damn, almost had ya there. Well, sorry man." Percy ducked underneath my arm and ran into the library.

"FuuuuUUUCCKKK!" I turned around to see him running inside the library. "Stay here Hazel, I got this!"

"Whatever you say, babe."

Hazel stayed outside with everyone else. I guess they bailed too. I took a deep breath, and ran into the library.

 **Annabeth POV:  
**  
Okay, I know this wasn't my brightest idea, but I had no choice. Plunging into the library, I caught up with Thalia.

"They're stalling." I said, out of breath.  
"Good," she said, somehow completely fine from the running. "Where's the spot?"

I made my way to the last shelf and squished behind it. I pulled a door open from behind the shelf and heard footsteps behind us, along with some yelling, which I rightfully assumed was Percy.

"Get in, I'll come!" Thalia ran into the room and I shut the door behind her. I dashed out of there and met Percy at the next shelf over.

He looked utterly ridiculous. Let me paint you the scene. He was wearing his normal clothes, a gray shirt and blue sweats. Then, he had a blue sweatshirt tied around his neck (which you know), a pen in his hand labelled riptide, and some swimming goggles on his eyes, above Silena's bright blue scarf. Why? Don't try to figure out, it isn't worth it.

"Hey! Seen Thalia anywhere?" He asked.

"Yep!" I exclaimed.

"Gonna tell me?"

"Well, no!" Percy frowned and I laughed. "Why are you guys forcing her to come anyway?"

He said, "We... Well... Okay, Thalia is always really... what's the word... distant, on this day. I feel like it's just better to have her with us. Last time, when we didn't go to the social... Well, I found her hiding under the bleachers outside. She was just staring off into space, clutching some paper I think. I thought it was a tissue, I couldn't tell in the dark. Anyway, when she realized I was there, she beelined it for her house and Jason told me not to bring it up the next day. I know it's stupid to want her to come with us to the social, but I was just..."

"Let me convince her?" I asked. "You know how good I am at persuading. Remember how you had ran away from that dog with the huge fangs, and I convinced you to pet it? It became your new pet!"

He smiled, "Don't know what I'd do without Mrs. O' Leary... Okay, fine. I leave this in your hands." He pulled off all his ridiculous accessories.

Percy started to leave the library, "Oh, by the way," he turned back to face me. "Do you wanna come with me to the social?"

My pupils dilated. I made a choking noise and asked, "W-Huh?"

"Yeah, I can pick you up. I mean, if you want." He said, fully confident. _YES! No, stop it Bethy, you should play it cool. Yeah, that's it, act as confident as he does. But... what if I do something really embarrassing?  
_  
And thinking of him as the Percy Jackson, popular of Mount. High School, oh gods. If last year, heck, last week, you had told me that Percy Jackson would be asking me to an ice cream social, I would most likely laugh in your face.

"Well?"

"Of course! I would love to-I-I mean, sure!" I blabbed. Percy laughed at me, his jet black hair swishing around. His smile was stunning. Literally, I felt as if an electric shock had went through me.

"Alright, see ya at 5. Social's starting then." He walked off, his 'cape', scarf, goggles, and pen in hand.

"See ya, Seaweed Brain." I watched him leave the library and went back to behind the last shelf. After I slid behind the shelf, I pulled the door open and walked inside.

The brick walls were a grayish color, and there was a full window, that was about my height and 3 times my width.  
There were many closets, all filled with things for an emergency situation: Canned goods, water bottles, medical kits, fire extinguishers, torches (flashlights), spare clothes, can openers, matches, a lighter, batteries, books (duh, library), a radio, whistles, and a DVD to signal someone in an emergency.

Thalia was sitting on one of the many couches inside the room (5), looking outside into the now, cloudy sky. The couches were all stiff, yet comfortable with a small pillow or two on each and were a deep mahogany color. "Ah, scare him off?" Thalia asked, glancing at me for a moment.

I nodded, "He didn't stand a chance once he revealed to me his true identity!" Thalia laughed and walked over to the window. Her eyes looked thoughtful, as she glanced over the field outside. We used it on especially hot days during gym, as Coach Hedge loved torturing us.

"Thalia, why don't you want to go to the social?" I blurted. "Why don't you really want to go?"

She didn't look over, "I'm not too sure, Annabeth." Looking over the sky, she pulled out a picture and gazed at it, longingly.

I peered over her shoulder, to see two people. A man and a girl. The man had black hair and a thick mustache and beard. He seemed very wise and bold. He was wearing a blue suit with white stripes going vertically up and down. He had a white shirt and a red tie on as well, with some black pants.  
The girl seemed tall, for how young she looked in the photo. She too, had black hair. It tied back in a ponytail, that went down to a little under her shoulders. She seemed happy, yet sharp. She was dressed in a lime green top and jeans with a denim jacket on. The man had his hand on top of the girl's shoulder, and the girl was holding a bow, with some arrows hanging in a pouch around her back. The two were smiling, their electric blue eyes, full of energy.

 _'A tissue... really..._ 'I thought.

"He never smiled too much, the old man." She mumbled, with a smile at the end. Her blue eyes were now shining.

"Father?" I asked, unsure. She nodded, stroking the bow in the picture.

"He bought it for me when I was a kid. It's my favorite gift from him. It was supposed to be a back-to-school gift in third grade, but it took a while in shipping. He said he had got the perfect one, just for me. He searched until he found just the right one. It belonged to a close friend of his. When he was leaving the next year... I stole the picture from his bag and kept it with me. I didn't tell him, because I didn't think he'd notice, to be honest." She gave a weak smile.

"It was made of oak... pretty standard, yet classic. It was sturdy, and pliable, and I could shoot, rapid fire. My maximum distance w-" She blinked, as if waking up from a nap. "Ah, sorry, too much nerd for even you, eh?"

"I just... prefer to remember the days with him on this day." Thalia ended. She looked up from the picture and up at the sky again, as if it was a distant memory of someone. I waited to see if she had anything else to add. Then, I gave my input.

"Thalia. Where did he go?" I whispered.

She took a minute before saying anything. "He went to find something better. He said he loved us, but felt as if it wasn't the life for him. He was willing to visit, but mom said that he was here, or gone. He was either in our life, or not, no in between. He packed his bags, and took off. Think he married some lady named Hera." Thales explained. "I met her once... she's okay I guess. Before he left, he told me that he lo-loved me. He wished he could stay, but he didn't think that this was the life for him." Thalia's eyes became more shiny with tears.

I thought about my words very carefully before I spoke, "Thalia... I think I know what your dad might say if he were here."

"I don't really care what he would say." She grumbled, crossing her arms in front of her. She didn't stop me though.

"I think that your dad really did love you. And he would want you to know that. He seems like he had his regrets, and flaws, but... all parents want the best for their children. I know I'm in no position to tell you what to do, Thales, but you should go out! I can tell how much you love spending time with your friends, and they love spending time with you. The social seems pretty stupid for a huge speech like this, and normally, I'd tell you to forget about it. I can tell that the social isn't the only event you've missed out on, while thinking about him." Thalia looked at me, guiltily.  
"Don't dwell on the past, move onto the future." I summed up.

I assumed Thalia was looking back out the window, but I saw a heard a tear drop onto the photo.

"Hey," I crouched down in front of her, "I'm sorry, don't cry!"

She laughed a little, "I'm sorry, Annabeth. Everyone's been sobbing to you lately about their problems. I didn't think that I'd be the one to do that too." Thalia stood up and folded the paper back into her pocket. She sniffled. "I-I think I should go."

"Are you coming to the social?"

She said, "I'm not sure. I don't want to go just because this old man would've w-"

"Go for me. Go for all of your friends, who love you, and want to see you at the social with them. You're loved more than you know, Thalia."  
She nodded, "Okay. I-I'll come. But you better be coming too!"

"With Percy." I smiled. She smiled back.

 **Hey lovelies!**  
 **Sorry for taking so long with the chapter, though in my defense, it's a miracle I was able to update from here anyway. I spent more than half the trip without Wi-Fi, so there.**  
 **Though, there's no point in making excuses. I hope you all liked the chapter! I know it's really clich , but I think that it's all added goodness and fluff.** **  
**

 **Poor Thalia :(  
**  
 **Don't worry, things will change for her soon! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, DM me if you catch a spelling error, have an opinion/guess, or want to point something out to me. Or, if you just need someone to talk to, I'm your gurl!  
**  
 **With love, your gurl, KHO**


	10. I scream

**Hi! I'm sorry I took so long (even though you don't care for my apologies/excuses) but I was SO busy with school. This week, luckily there wasn't much work, so I could get chapters out. Also, Wattpad crashed on me right when I finished and I had to redo EVERYTHING all over again.**  
 **I'm going to start posting chapters every 2 weeks. I wish I could do it quicker, but I can't.**  
 **Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

 **Jason POV:**

"Ready?" She asked for the tenth time in 10 minutes.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," My voice called from the bathroom. The bottle of hair gel next to me tumbled over onto the tiled bathroom floor with a thud.

"You okay in there?" She asked with a slightly concerned voice.

"No, I'm Jason in here," I said, smiling wildly.

"...Really?" I could tell she was smiling too.

"Yep," I stated. Footsteps receding, Piper left the bathroom door, quietly laughing.

I picked up the bottle on the floor and placed the gel next to my shampoo and soap. Then, I started to comb again. Piper always said I was too self-conscious about my hair. Is it a crime to want to look good? If it is, I would rather break the law.

After I finished combing, I put my comb back in place and gave myself a last look in the mirror. I was wearing my white sweatshirt with some black jeans that I found in the back of my closet. Now that I think about it, were those Percy's?

Piper yelled again, "COME ON, YOU TAKE LONGER TO DRESS THAN SILENA!"

I smirked and pulled the door open. Piper was wearing a sparkly beige shirt that read, 'I'm chill' with a bowl of ice cream on it and some jeans. Her hair was in a bun with the little feather hanging to the side of her head.

"Ugh, took you long enough..." She moaned. "Come on, I'm scared that Thalia died in the car from how long you've taken caressing your hair."

"So, she's coming, the hag..." I remarked, beaming.

Piper nodded, "Looks like Bethy talked some sense into her. I'm glad she's coming."

I smiled, thoughtfully, "Me too." My school ID was over on the kitchen counter, so I went over and grabbed it. Next to it were some lemon drops; I plopped one into my mouth and held one out for Piper.

"Really? We're about to eat ice cream!" Piper was such a bummer, man.

Swishing the drop in my mouth, I replied, "You can never have enough sweetness in your life, Piper Mclean."

She groaned and snatched the drop out of my hand. "Come on, Thalia's waiting," She tried to pull me outside.

"...What are you trying to do?"

"Get your fat ass out of this door!" Pipes said as she continued to pull me outside. I didn't budge.

"I think you're too weak to pull me outside, Pipes." Piper dropped my hand and looked at me with intense rage.

"Oh, okay, that's how we're gonna play." She took a deep breath. Took a few steps forward...

I assumed she was either gonna kick me in the crotch, or pull me outside by my ears, you never know with Piper. Instead, something else happened.

She put her hands on my shoulders and pushed her lips up to mine. Grinning, I kissed her back. She wrapped her hands around my neck and I held her waist.

Next thing I know, I'm standing outside with Piper's bag in my hand.

My head swiveled over to face her, "Congrats, you got me outside with your charm. Now, take your bag back please?"

She smirked, "As always, I win. Anyways, what else could I do? There was no way to get you outside. I'm sure you were twice as heavy with that mound of hair gel on your head." Piper extended her hand up to my head and, well, she destroyed my hair. In horror, I placed my hand upon my ruined hair.

"...PIPER, YOU STOP RUNNING AND GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!" I was chasing Piper around the car as she giggled, playfully.

Piper was pretty fast. Also pretty. Sorry, I didn't need to mention that, still a little woozy from the Charmspeak.

Let's get back to Piper's speed. I turned to head in the other direction and cut her off. Piper ran right into my arms and I lifted her up.

"Do you apologize for ruining my hair?" I asked her, as she giggled above me.

"Yes, I'm sorry. Please put me down, and let's go?"

Swishing the lemon drop in my mouth more, I say, "I accept your apology. Let's go." I lower Piper down on the ground and she walks to the car.

"...Well? Let's go Sparky!" I smiled and walked to the car. I held the door open for Piper and she blushed, "Dork."

I went in after her. Thalia was listening to music. Her headphones slid off and she tossed them into her bag, "About time, lovebirds..." She was wearing the same thing as this morning, a beige T-shirt that read 'mood.' and had a golden bow pin attached to it. Her dark hair was thrown up into a messy bun, but everything about Thalia was messy; in a good way, of course. [Thalia! That's a compliment!]

"Yeah, yeah. So... you're ready to go, Thalia?" I looked into her eyes.

"Yes. I am now." She held Piper's hand. The two of them smiled at each other and I melted.

Grinning, I said, "Let's go! Oh, and hi Nico. How are ya feeling up there?"

Nico looked back at me, "Great... Let's get to the social. Mom, we're ready."

Nico's mom said, "Nice, let's go!" The car revved and we drove away to the social. When I looked over, Piper and Thalia were still holding hands.

 **Annabeth POV:**

I got into the house and, on cue, my dad called, "Hey, honey, come over here!"

Kicking my shoes into a corner, I walked into the kitchen to find dad. He was cooking. Except whatever he was cooking... it didn't exactly look edible.

There was food all over the ceiling, table, walls, well, everything really. My dad was also covered in some sort of red, sticky substance. Walking a little closer, it smelled sweet. The table was full of cooking supplies like sugar, a cake pan, cracked egg shells, food coloring, and loads of other utensils.

"What did you do to the kitchen," I asked, staring in awe. Dad looked up at me. He appeared to be attempting to clean the table.

"Hi, hon, I'm gonna need your help. I was trying to make a cake, and it got everywhere," He explained, handing me a towel. I walked over to the table to start putting the utensils back in their place.

"How?" I questioned, placing the cake pan back into the cabinet.

"Well, first I mixed the butter and sugar. While I slowly mixed them, I carefully added a pinch of-"

"You know what, it's fine." I walked back over to grab more supplies. "How did you have so much time to do this? When did you get back from school?"

"Same time as always. I work quick," He told me, washing a bowl in the sink.

"Okay then." I placed the cracked eggshells into the trash and looked back at dad. "So, how are we going to clean the ceiling?"

Dad smiled, "We can..."

I looked around the room, "Pull up a chair and stand on the table to clean it. What are we going to clean it with..."

"We can use wet paper towels. You go up, I'll get them," Dad said. He grabbed a couple of paper towels as I pulled a chair over to the table. The table was a little slippery because we had just cleaned it, so I was extra careful while getting up. Dad handed me the paper towels and I cleaned off the sticky batter. It came off easily, as it was still a little wet. I gave dad the towels to hold as I got down from the table.

"Okay, I'll get the walls. You can go do your homework. Thanks, princess," Dad said.

"It's fine. And, there's no homework for the first week of school. I'm going to this ice cream social today-"

"Ooh, ice cream social? Who are you and what have you done with my daughter?"

I smiled, "Well, maybe I'm an alien."

"Maybe. And maybe I'm great at cooking."

"...Nah, I don't think so," I shook my head. Dad grabbed a wet towel flung water all over my clothes.

"Dad! I'm about to go out!" I frowned and picked up another towel. "En guard!"

Wet towels are a lot like swords in duels. Our towels intercepted each other and water sprayed all around.

Dad went to the sink and stuck his towel under the tap.

"Hey, no fair!" I ran over and stuck my towel underneath the tap as well. He threw his towel at me, "Ahh, cold!"

I wrung the towel on top of his head. "EEK!" He screeched and grabbed his head.

I laughed, "Sorry, that was a little extreme..." We laughed together when the bell rang.

"Oh?" Dad asked.

I chewed my bottom lip, "...Oops."

"Annabeth?"

"Um... well, we were so busy with the whole cake explosion, and I just... forgot to tell you. Um, Percy's here to bring me to the social..."

Awaiting dad's version of the cake explosion, I looked down. It didn't come, so I looked back up. Dad was gone. The bell rang again.

"Dad?"

I walked out of the kitchen. Dad was looking out of the door peephole. "So, that's Percy, huh. He's not bad looking... You look better though."

"Dad!"

He laughed, "Okay, I'll stall him, get up, change!"

Praising my dad, I ran up the stairs. I looked back, "Dad? One more thing. If you say ANYTHING embarrassing about me, I swear to Hades, I will have my revenge."

"Hey, what could I say? I've probably already told him everything. Plus, he firsthand knows how embarrassing you are," Dad grinned. I groaned and made my way upstairs before Percy rang the bell again.

My room approached, and I slammed myself in.

Okay, challenge #1: Get dressed.

 **Percy POV:**

 _Okay, here you are. Just ring the bell._

 _Any day now. Yep. Any day now..._

 _MAN UP, PERCY! IT'S JUST A STUPID BELL! When is this going to get this any easier? Okay, it's just Wise Girl, it's just Wise Girl._

I reluctantly rang the doorbell. There was an awkward silence. _Shit, is she not ready? Did she bail?_ I rang the bell again.

Not wanting to be that person, I waited at the door. Their car was still in the parking lot, so I knew that they were here. _Did she forget? Did it mean that little to her? I mean, it wasn't a date or anything, but I thought it was pretty important... No, snap out of it, Annabeth wouldn't do that._

Not knowing what to do, I rang the bell again. The little chime made my stomach churn. I felt a little uneasy, waiting at her doorstep. I hoped she wouldn't leave me hanging here, I would've felt like a real loser going to the social without her. Well, I guess the gang would be there. Still, it would've been different without her.

The door swung open, and I sighed in relief. Annabeth's dad stood in front of me. If you haven't met him, he doesn't seem too intimidating. In fact, he's a pretty nice guy. His blonde hair is a sandy blonde. His brown eyes are what is very similar to Annabeth's despite not being gray. They both had an aura of creativity and brilliance.

"Percy," he nodded.

"Hey, Mr. Chase."

"Well? Are you waiting for an invitation?"  
I almost laughed, walking into the house. I placed my shoes in a corner and followed Mr. Chase into the living room. It seemed like they didn't come in here too often because it was way too clean.

"So, how have you been? How's Poseidon doing?" He handed me an apple.

"It's okay," I gave him the apple back.

"Ah, I almost forgot," Mr. Chase ran back to another room. When he came back, he had a bowl of blueberries, "Here. And, don't say no, it was a lot of work to get those blueberries."

I grinned and accepted the bowl of blueberries. I plopped one into my mouth and it was delicious, like all blue food. "Thank you. And, I'm just fine. Dad is... dad. Busy man, he is. He's just fine though. I'll be seeing him soon."

Mr. Chase sat on the couch, "Right, I almost forgot. I won't apologize, you've probably heard enough apologies. You're a strong boy, Percy, I know you."

I sat there, a little stunned. "I hope so. But, how are you? How's Annabeth been all these years?"

Mr. Chase laughed, "Well, I'm happy. Malcolm's in college now, doing well there. Don't have to pay much with the scholarship, but you know, food and rent aren't too cheap. Now Annabeth, she's a very... introverted girl. Someone has forbidden me from embarrassing her, *ahem ahem*. But, she has changed from when she was a child. A little more quiet, little more closed off."

Well, I believe that. It wasn't too surprising, that she changed. I mean, we both did.

"So, when are you both coming back?" He asked, changing the subject.

"6-7. She'll be back soon, don't worry. And if she isn't, mom will punish me more than you will."

He laughed, "Okay. How is Sally?"

"Yeah, she is. Mom is great. Work is great too. She's thinking of pursuing some art, not too sure what yet. All that matters is she's happy," I responded.

"Well, I'm happy for her. I'm happy for both of you."

"Thank you. So, where's wise girl? She put on her blush or what? Also, why are you drenched?"

Mr. Chase laughed, "Maybe. We had a water fight."

I was gaping, "What? I wish you waited for me! Annie could've come wet if she wanted, prolly would've dried off in the sun."

He nodded, "True. She'll be down any sec-well, speak of the devil!"

I turned my head. Wow, she was pretty. I mean, she was finally down, the slowpoke.

She was wearing a white lace top that looked like something Silena would wear, and a pair of black pants. Her blonde hair was wrapped up into a braided bun, with a strand of hair to the side of her face.

Her blonde hair was wrapped up into a braided bun, with a strand of hair to the side of her face "You look nice, now let's go, Annie," I said, standing up and walking to her.

Annabeth POV:

I had just dressed up to leave. I didn't put too much on, it would look a little weird for a social. And, I wanted to finish up quick; Percy was downstairs, and I didn't fully trust dad on that 'no embarrassing me' thing.

I gave myself a last look and grabbed up my purse and phone. It was time to go see him.

Making my way downstairs, I stopped on the last step and eavesdropped.

"What? I wish you waited for me! Annie could've come wet if she wanted, prolly would've dried off in the sun," Percy whined. What a crybaby.

He nodded, "True. She'll be down any sec-well, speak of the devil!"

I had been spotted. Embarrassed, I walked over to the living room. Percy turned his head and looked at me. With his face. His adorable face.

"You look nice, now let's go, Annie," he said, standing up and facing me. He was now wearing a turquoise shirt and white jeans. His hair was messily combed as if he'd done it with his fingers. He was also wearing his letterman jacket. It was navy blue and seemed like Percy barely wore it from how unspoiled it appeared to be.

"Okay, off we go." I put on my shoes and Percy did as well. Dad walked us to the door, "Have fun kiddos, and be back soon."

"Okay, dad," I wrapped him into a hug and walked out with Percy. Dad shut the door and we walked out to the driveway.

I stopped. "Um, no."

Percy turned to me, "Huh?"

"What is that?" I pointed to the black motorcycle on the side of the curb. Percy followed my hand.

"Ohh, you mean Blackjack! Yeah, he's my motorcycle. Dad gave him to me."

"Blackjack? You named it?"

"Him, and yes," Percy smiled. "Come on, the others will be waiting."

I took a step back, "Yeah, no chance."

Percy looked at me confused, "And, may I ask, why?"

Flabbergasted, I said, "It's. A MOTORCYCLE!"

"So what? Don't look at me like that, I'm rightfully confused. Thalia loves it when I take her on Blackjack!"

"I'm not... like Thalia! Don't make me do this," I pleaded.

Percy put his hands up, "Fine, fine, I'll just go by myself." My heart dropped as Percy sat on Blackjack and turned the key. The engine revved and my chest pounded. I needed to say something. I need to tell him to stay. _Stop!_

But, I stood frozen, watching him put on his helmet. I looked down, waiting for him to leave. But motorcycle stayed in place. I looked up and the visor was up on his helmet. He was looking at me as if I were acting insane. I wasn't, okay? You're probably screaming, 'Just get on the motorcycle! Stop being a wimp!'

Let's see you in my position. I'm not that desperate, okay? It's like, skydiving for the first time. Or bungee jumping. Only less extreme.

Okay, back to Percy. I was looking up at him, as he was looking back at me.

"I'm never gonna leave you, Wise Girl. Always remember that. Now, let's go. Nothing will happen to you as long as I'm here." His sea-green eyes bore into mine. His voice came out slightly muffled from his helmet.

I blinked, "O-Okay." Percy held his hand out for me and pulled me up. His touch was warm and reassuring. I hopped on and let go of Percy's hand, which was a little upsetting.

"Hold on tight, okay?" Percy pulled his visor back down and revved up Blackjack again. I didn't grab him right away, because I thought I could handle it. Also, I thought it would be really awkward. After almost wimping out, I didn't need to hold Percy's metaphorical hand as I rode my metaphorical bicycle for the first time!

I was an idiot. As Percy hit the accelerator, I slammed into his back, then almost fell off the back of the motorcycle. My hands flew up to his shoulders and I held on for dear life. After about 30 seconds, I was still freaking out. After about a minute, I was still freaking out. I'm not sure when I stopped panicking as much as before. But, dare I say it, I was almost enjoying myself.

The wind brushed past my face, a strand of my hair dancing in the wind. I gripped onto Percy's shoulders tighter as we turned left.

We stopped at a red light and Percy asked me, "Having fun?"

"Honestly? This is... an experience," I said, smiling, even though he couldn't see me.

"Glad to hear. We should be there in like 5 minutes, so, get comfy," Percy said. I was extremely happy with this. Soon, we were off again and the wind was racing past us. I looked around me at the world racing by. The signs, the buildings. Clouds overhead were beautiful and elegant. _Is that a bird? Ooh, looks like an eagle! Or a plane. Nah, more like a pile of fluff._

The sky was a faded blue, and the sun was covered up by puffy cumulus clouds. I was so busy admiring the beautiful scenery, that I didn't realize we were at school until Percy was requesting me to hop off the motorcycle, "Off you go!"

Letting go of Percy's shoulders, I stepped onto the ground. I suddenly felt the need to projectile vomit, but I calmed myself by thinking of the ice cream I was about to eat.

I turned around and Percy was putting his key into his pocket. He faced me, "Not so scary, huh?"

"Not so scary," I groaned. Percy smiled smugly and I walked away from his motorcycle. I looked around to find the others, but all I saw were girls glaring at me and Percy and Blackjack.

Before I could mention this to Percy, he walked up behind me and placed his hands on my shoulder, "Let's get some ice cream, they'll turn up soon."

"Sure, sounds good... You're totally gonna get vanilla," I said, bounding towards the school.

Percy's mouth opened, "No! Maybe!" I giggled at him and walked into the line.

"HEY, BETHY! WE'RE UP HERE!" Thalia screamed and I grinned. She did come after all... "COME IN LINE WITH US!"

Percy chuckled, "Now THIS, is gonna be a proper social."

 **Thalia POV:**

We were all standing in line. After waiting YEARS for Piper and Jason to get into the car, we met up with Silena, Beckendorf, Hazel, Frank, Leo, Calypso, Grover, and Will apparently. After that, we got in line and were chatting.

"Where's Perce?" Jason asked. "He was the one so insistent on coming to the social!"

"He's on his way with Annabeth, chill. They should be here any minute," Will said. Silena's head shot towards him, then back ahead of her.

Hazel said, "Oh okay! Well, where did Nico go?"

"Um, I'm right here!" Nico was standing behind the rest of us. "I'm sorry that I'm so short?!"

I was going to laugh, but I saw Percy and Annabeth in the back of the line. You already know what they were wearing, but it wasn't just that. They gave off an aura. It felt strong, yet nervous at the same time.

"HEY, BETHY! WE'RE UP HERE!" Jason hopped in the air and Piper shivered. I didn't think I was that loud, but whatever. Drama queens... [Well? You guys are! Don't give me that look!] "COME IN LINE WITH US!"

They grinned and cut the line to us. "I knew you would come!" Percy tackled me into a hug and I pushed him away, "Stop that! The only reason I came was for you guys."

Annabeth looked at me, and we both knew what I meant by that. Then, unannounced, Leo and Calypso embraced me from behind. "EEk! Stop doing that! It's getting really annoying!"

"Doing what? Hugging you," Leo asked, "No way."

Cal added in, "One day, you'll get used to this. I swear on... Leo."

Leo let go of me, "Um, what the hell is tha-"

"GROUP HUG," Jason screeched. Everyone came crashing in on me and I actually laughed.

After they released me (it took a while,) we didn't really need to wait because people just let us cut. Seriously. We didn't even ask! They just moved! I guess these are the perks of being a vicious hunter. [Oh, shut up, Jason! I'll steal your brick! Yeah, that's right, you walk away...]

Once we got to the front, "How can I help you, dweebs?"

Yep, Reyna was the one taking our orders.

My jaw dropped. "Seriously? You, volunteering to help with the Ice Cream Social?"

Reyna laughed, "I mean, Mr. D said I'd get extra credit because no one was volunteering to help."

Annabeth shoved me out of the way, "Extra Credit? I didn't hear about that!" She glanced over at me, "Oh no, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Hey, don't even worry about it. Let's just get some cream iced," I studied the different ice cream flavors on the sign. There was Brownie, Cake Batter, Pumpkin Pie, Vanilla Bean, Strawberry, Cookie Batter, Mint Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chip, Cherry Garcia ( **based of the extremely delicious Ben & Jerry's ice cream -KHO)**, and Iscream Surprise (that pun hurt me physically).

I was in awe that there were so many flavors at this measly social. Seriously, there were dozens of gallons of ice cream.

I whispered, "How can they afford this, and yet we have textbooks from a hundred years ago?"

Jason snickered, "Priorities, of course."

Once I had made my choice, I asked Reyna, "Can I get some Cookie Batter creamed ice?"

She grinned, "You can."

I groaned, "Really?" She peered back at me with the same irritating expression. "Ugh. May I have some Cookie Batter creamed ice?"

As the winner, Reyna passed over my creamed ice and I rolled my eyes, walking away. Who does she think she is...

Percy and Grover got Brownie, Jason got Mint Chocolate Chip, Silena got Strawberry, Leo got Chocolate Chip, Piper and Calypso got Cherry Garcia, Hazel and Will got Vanilla Bean, Nico got Pumpkin Pie, Beckendorf and Frank picked up some Cake Batter. Annabeth got the Iscream Surprise and, to be honest, it was shaved ice. Blue Raspberry shaved ice. How is that special in any way, shape, or form?

"Told you I wouldn't get vanilla," Percy announced.

Annabeth scoffed, "If I hadn't said anything, you would've gotten vanilla."

We all sat down to enjoy it under an oak tree.

"Percy, where did you get this picnic blanket from," Jason questioned, slightly concerned.

"Yo mama!"

"Shut the fuck up-"

"Okay, okay, but I actually did. She left it at our house a while back," Percy explained, placing the blanket on the shaded grass.

Annabeth said, "But you didn't bring a blanket on your motorcycle."

I stood up, "Wait, you brought Blackjack?! That's not fair, it took me like 3 months to convince you and I'm guessing she didn't even ask!"

Percy shushed me, "Later okay, later. And, for your information, I left the blanket in my gym locker."

Leo nudged my shoulder, "Yeah, and I'm sure I know why. With Rachel last month, amirite? Eh? Eh?"

Beckendorf pushed Leo, "Bro, shut up," He was laughing too.

Percy looked over at Annabeth, who seemed to have become increasingly awkward. "Guys, stop," Percy spoke flatly. They stopped and sat down together.

I hunkered down with my ice cream next to Piper, "Come on guys, don't spoil the mood!"

We all, one-by-one, sat on the picnic blanket. The ice cream was surprisingly good for school food. The sweet chocolate chips swirled in my mouth while the flavor of cookie batter lingered. I could tell the others were enjoying their ice cream/fro-yo too. I was really not regretting the decision to come here. Guess I have Bethy to thank for that. (Thanks, Annabeth. Shut up, I'm not nice!)

"Wait, where's Percy," Reyna asked approaching us. She had some cherry shaved ice. I looked where Percy was sitting to reveal an empty space in the circle we had formed.

"He's gone? Also, hi Reyna, off duty?" I asked, being me.

"Yep. Also, did Percy bail or what?"

Nico stood up and looked around, "He's probably using the bathroom. Or getting seconds."

"Wouldn't he say something though?" I was done with my ice cream now and headed to throw in in the garbage can.

Looking back, I carefully scanned the area. He was nowhere to be seen. Had the doof really bailed on us?

Walking to the blanket I called, "Can't see him anywhere!"

I sat back down and Nico pulled out his phone, "I'll call him."

I heard the slightest whisper, "Peek-a-boo!"

"EEK!" Annabeth screeched at the top of her lungs and I heard an, "Ow!"

When I looked over, Percy was standing behind Annabeth, holding his nose, "What was that for?"

Annabeth was breathing pretty hard, "Excuse me? Do you know how much that scared me, holy crap!" She got up and started shoving Percy, "How was I supposed to get home, huh? I was so upset you little kelp head!"

Percy giggled, "Just like when we were kids, wise girl!"

I questioned, "Percy, where did you go?"

He turned to me, "Ah, I just went to talk to someone, no biggie. Where'd my creamed ice go?!"

Now, I had a tough time believing that. That might seem like a jump in logic, but when you know Percy as well as I do, 'no biggie' is the opposite.

"Annabeth." A voice spoke and it was Silena's. This whole time I hadn't really noticed her too much, but now she really stood out.

Her aura was undetectable. I couldn't read her at all. She seemed aggravated. But she didn't seem aggravated. It's hard to describe.

"Let's talk for a minute." Annabeth was dragged away before she could speak. I had a feeling she'd be fine, physically at least.

With Annabeth gone, I looked to see Percy's eyes full of remorse. "Percy, tell me the truth. Where were you? And, save it with your, 'no biggie' shtick.

He stared at me with a blank expression. Until after like 30 seconds, "Okay, fine. But please, don't tell Annabeth any of you."

 **Hey, Demigods!**

 **I hope y'all liked the chapter! The next one should be coming up soon! Comment your favorite Percy Jackson or Heroes Of Olympus character (if you want) and see what others think!**

 **Hope everyone has a lovely weekend! Oh, and Happy Halloween! Let's see what everyone thinks!**

 **Me: Opinions on Halloween?**  
 **Percy: Bro, Halloween is the best holiday. You get free candy, an excuse to dress up in a costume, and you meet new people!**  
 **Annabeth: Meh, Halloween's okay. There's a lot of spiders though. And stupid Leo with his disgusting rubber spiders.**  
 **Leo: Okay, leave Spencer out of this.**  
 **Annabeth: Why do you call him Spencer?**  
 **Thalia: Why not?**  
 **Percy: Spiders are spooky, and so is Halloween. Ooh! I'm going to be a Squirtle! Tyson said he'd make me a costume.**  
 **Leo: I'm obviously going to be Gordon Ramsay. Seriously, how can I not? Well, other than that I'd probably be Jason.**  
 **Jason: Why dude?**  
 **Leo: Bro Jason: Bro Leo: Bro Thalia: ...Okay, I'm going as a tree to show my past self.**  
 **Jason: I'm going to be Superman and Piper's going as Lily Singh Piper: What. A. QUEEN!**  
 **Annabeth: I'm not sure what to be...**  
 **Percy: Ooh! You should be an architect!**  
 **Annabeth: Huh. Not bad, Kelp Head.**  
 **Frank: Ooh, I wanna be a warrior! My Grandma says that it's perfect. Then lectured me for a while...**  
 **Hazel: I'll be Rosa Parks. So influential.**  
 **Grover: I'd LOVE to be a tree.**  
 **Thalia: Hey! I'm going as a tree.**  
 **Grover: Ugh, fine. I'll be Pan.**  
 **Me: ...**  
 **Jason: Hey, what about you?**  
 **Me: ...I'm going as Thalia  
** **Thalia: SUCK ON THAT PIPER!  
** **Piper: ...whatever.  
** **Leo: HALLOWEEN, 2018!**

 **-KHO**


	11. Thanksgiving Special (Firey Feast)

**Hey, Demigods! This is kind of a filler for Thanksgiving, so I hope you enjoy! It's not related to the storyline, it's just something I happened to write to celebrate Thanksgiving. I hope you all enjoy!**

"Done!" Sally laid the cerulean chocolate-chip cookies on the casuarina oak table. Her navy blue blouse brought out her bright blue eyes. Wiping the sweat off her forehead and the crumbs off her dull gray skirt, she sat down next to her son, Perseus Jackson, known better as Percy. The black T-shirt he wore, picked out by Sally and Annabeth, had a design of leaves in a heap, and his jeans were shredded (not intentionally) in several places. His jet black hair that was precisely brushed by Annabeth merely moments before was now entirely disheveled.

His sea-green eyes gazed longingly at the table adorned with numerous meals. Upon the table lay a perfectly roasted turkey, a blue homemade pumpkin pie, a bowl of Sally's famous seven-layer dip, the blue chocolate chip cookies Sally had freshly made, a pitcher of lemonade, a container of macaroni and cheese, and a dish with fruit kabobs.

Percy literally jumped on the food while Annabeth held him back, "No Percy! Magnus is on his way! You said you'd wait for him!" She was dressed in an orange pastel dress with a bateau neckline. The dress ended a little above her knees. She didn't usually wear dresses, but Percy thought Annabeth looked stunning either way. Her hair was tied back in a bun with a few strands to the side of her face. As she scowled at him, her gray eyes were as sharp as broken glass.

"How can I?" Percy huffed. "Seven-layer dip Annabeth! Seven-layer dip!"

Sally smiled, "Deep breaths, Percy. Paul will be arriving soon, as will Magnus and Alex."

Wrapping his hands like a seven-year-old, Percy sank back in his seat, peeping at the mac and cheese.

"As per usual," Leo laughed, "Percy won't be able to resist my tofu tacos."

Percy snorted, "As if! I just want to taste that creamy, luscious, mac and cheese swishing in my mouth..."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "You're drooling, Seaweed Brain." Percy rubbed the liquid off his chin. "This is our first Thanksgiving in years! We've been remarkably preoccupied with quests since, and we have a chance to sit down as a family and be thankful. Let's do that with our family united, okay?"

"Is it just me, or is there something burning?" Percy sniffed. Smog wafted up to their nostrils, leaving their lungs stinging.

"Holy Hera!" Leo sprinted inside the kitchen, "Not the tacos!" The dining room was now congested with smoke. A blaring alarm shrieked, leaving everyone somewhat deafened. Coughing and wheezing, Annabeth instantly stood up and motioned the smoke out of her eyes. She raced over to the kitchen, Sally and Percy following.

A flame blazed in the skillet containing the tofu for Leo's tacos. Leo stared incredulously at the stove as Sally bustled to the pantry and fetched a fire extinguisher out. She diffused the stove top, coating it, and the skillet, in a creamy substance.

"Oh gods," Sally mumbled, "are you kids alright?" Everyone nodded as Sally settled the empty extinguisher to a side. "Jeez..."

Leo stared down at the floor, "I'm sorry guys. I-I completely forgot..."

Annabeth put her hand on his shoulder, "Hey, it's okay."

Percy shook his head in agreement, "Don't worry. Let's just go out and have a Thanksgiving feast to be thankful of."

Sally lingers in the kitchen to tidy up a bit while Leo, Annabeth, and Percy come out to welcome the visitors.

"There she is," Magnus smiles as he walks inside. He wore a red flannel shirt and some ripped jeans under a jet black overcoat. He slipped his shoes into the corner, "My extraordinary cousin. And her new boyfriend! And..."

Leo grins, "Leo. Nice to meet you." The two shake hands.

"And me, nice to meet y'all, yadda yadda, less chat more food!" Someone walked past Magnus into the house. He wore a pink-and-green argyle sweater-vest over a white t-shirt with bright, lime green skinny jeans and pink converse sneakers. A pink cashmere sweater is knotted around his waist and his green hair is messy like he combed it with his fingers.

He walks up to Sally, "And, hi. I'm Alex, nice to meet you." She turned and looked to everyone, "By the way, I'm him and he at the moment!"

Sally shook his hand, "Hi. Nice to meet you, Alex. I mean, we are future relatives if you get what I mean-"

"Mom! You're embarrassing all of us at the same time," Percy whined, pulling his mother's hand.

"Alright, alright, I give in."

"Ding," The bell rang and Sally dashed after it, "Paul's here!"

She pulled open the door to meet not Paul, but someone else.

"Hello, Sally." He advanced into the house. The aura he gave off is powerful, yet tender. His black hair was combed back and his beard was precisely trimmed. He had a deep tan and sea-green eyes, similar to Percy's. A deep azure collared shirt and khakis are what he what dressed in, along with jet black hiking boots. "And, hello son."

"Hey, dad! Happy Thanksgiving," Percy beamed and stood up to greet his dad. "What are you doing here?"

Poseidon ruffled his son's hair, "To give thanks, of course! Now, let's eat!" He sits next to his son and Annabeth while Sally stares in awe.

Leo added, "We all know the real reason. He couldn't bear to miss a Thanksgiving with the bad boy supreme. Amirite or amirite?"

Poseidon laughed, "Yes, that's the real reason I'm here."

Sally stammers, "Well, um, hi Poseidon. Paul should be arriving-"

"Sally?" A man walks inside. "Why are you just standing there?" His salt-and-pepper hair was styled precisely. He had worn a white tee with a brown jacket over it.

"I, um-"

"Hello, Paul," Poseidon announced. "Happy Thanksgiving!"

Annabeth grinned, "You're late! As I predicted!"

Paul retorted, "Traffic was unbearable! I was traveling at 2 miles per hour!"

"Well," Annabeth paraphrased, "I nevertheless prevail."

Paul mumbled, "Whatever..." he turned around and whispered to Sally, "Were you aware he was visiting?"

Sally shook her head, "No clue. Might as well roll with it." Sally occupied the seat to Percy's right. Paul sat to her right. Seated to Paul's right was Magnus. Alex sat next to Magnus' right. Leo hunkered down next to Alex. Annabeth perched to the right of Leo. Poseidon sat to Annabeth's right. Lastly, Percy sat to the right of Poseidon.

"Well, I think we should all go around in a circle," Paul suggested, "and say what we're thankful for."

Sally glowed, "Great idea! I'll start. I am thankful for many things. One of them is for the wonderful children I received. Percy, you are the light of my life. And Estelle, though she's asleep right now, I'm thankful she was born a healthy, beautiful baby girl. I'm also thankful for the wonderful childhood I possessed. Paul, you next."

"Sure," Paul nodded, "I'm also thankful for many things. I am thankful that I live in a world where other's care for each other and feel deep emotions for one another. I'm also thankful for my wife, Sally." Sally held Paul's hand. "You next, Magnus."

"Well, okay." Magnus cleared his throat. "As you guys know, I'm an atheist. I've been through a lot in my life, living on the streets. I didn't think I'd be thankful for anything, but I am. I'm thankful that I have friends who accept me. I'm thankful for my family, including all of you, who support me. I am thankful I found you and we reconnected, Annabeth." Annabeth's eyes turned glassy, and her smile became sympathetic. "I'm thankful for Alex, my wonderful girlfriend-"

"Dammit, how do you always know!" Alex huffed.

"Maybe," Magnus continued, "we're connected somehow. Anyhoo, your turn, my beloved."

Alex rolled her eyes and recounted what she was thankful for. "I, similar to Magnus, don't prefer to chat about my history. It was difficult once my grandpa went, but I do have several items I'm thankful for. I am grateful for my sister who isn't here, Samirah. She was a good friend to me once I... died. It never gets less weird to talk about. Still, she took care of me and didn't make me feel dejected about who I am. I'm appreciative of my subpar sweetie pie, Magnus. He always believed in me and made me feel like nothing could stop me. You're up, Mcshizzle!"

Leo stood up and smiled, "I know how thankful you all are of me. To be serious, I am remarkably thankful to all of you. I had no one or nowhere to travel to concerning Thanksgiving this year, other than Calypso. And well, we're kind of on the rough terms right now. I just felt... alone. You all gave me a home to be in this year for Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for Festus, he appeared as my dragon in shining metal. Well, he was pretty dusty when I first saw him, but I guess I fixed him up to be shining. I'm grateful for my friends, even though I annoy you all to bits. You're up Annie Bell!" Leo sat down and Annabeth smiled, genuinely.

"Well, this might take a while..." informed Annabeth. "As a young girl, I made it to Camp Half-Blood with the help of Thalia and Luke. While I can thank Thalia, I can't thank Luke. I hoped he knew how much he meant to me before Kronos. I thank Grover, for trying with all he could to escort me to camp. I also and thankful to Magnus. I'm glad us two reconnected and that our lives are just as crazy. I am grateful to Seaweed Brain, for helping me get my first quest. He's been with me since I caught him drooling after fighting a minotaur. After Sally 'died.'" She made air quotations as she said it. Annabeth added, "Percy was one of the first people I truly trusted with my heart and soul. When you were taken from me by Hera, I lost it. You mean so much to me, and I can't imagine feeling any other way."

Percy whispered, "That's my girlfriend!"

Poseidon snickered and smiled. "My turn I suppose. If I listed everything, it would take ages. So, to be concise, I am thankful for my brothers, even though they constantly rob me of everything in my life. They are my family, of course. I'm thankful for Tyson supporting me under the sea-"

"UNDER THE SEA, UNDER THE SEA," Leo sang, "DARLING IT'S BETTER DOWN WHERE IT'S WETTER TAKE IT FROM ME!"

"That's my jam!" Percy and Leo sang, "Under the Sea," together and Poseidon eventually joined in.

"I'm also thankful for you, Percy. You resolved a major argument with my family, son. I... I thank you for being a respectful human and for giving me someone to brag about and be proud of on Olympus. Your turn, Annabeth!"

Percy looked at his dad, proud of himself, and Annabeth stood up.

"Sorry, this might take some time. I have many things to be thankful for. To be concise, I'm appreciative of my mom, Athena, who has helped me through many quests. I'm grateful for Thalia, Luke, and Grover helping me reach camp. I'm especially thankful for Percy. Honestly, when Hera brainwashed you, I was so... scared. I didn't know what I was going to do. You've had my back so many times, even in Tartarus. I love you, Percy." Annabeth turns and places a kiss on Percy's lips.

Percy whispers to Poseidon, "That's my girlfriend!" He then explains what he's thankful for.

"I have been blessed with a wonderful childhood. My mom was my guardian angel, always protecting me. I'm lucky to have made such amazing friends at Camp Half-Blood. And, an amazing girlfriend. Annabeth, from the first moment I met you, I knew you were going to be a stubborn, strong-minded, condescending-"

"We get it," Annabeth growled, "You can move on now!"

Percy chuckled, "I also knew you were going to change my life and make me a better person. You can decide that for yourself. To be completely humble. I'm thankful for every one of you at this table. Now, let's dig in please, my stomach has been grumbling since the fire..."

Paul blinked, "What fi-"

Sally announced, "HAPPY THANKSGIVING!"

 **I know Thanksgiving was a couple days ago, but I wanted to post this because I'm still thankful. I'm thankful for my family, for my friends, my life. I'm thankful I was born happy and healthy and treated with kindness and love. I'm thankful for books and writing, giving me a home. I'm thankful for everyone in the community too. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!**

 **~ KHO**


	12. Sharp Tongues and Awful Aftertastes

**Hey guys~**  
 **Sorry for being gone so long, I guess I was looking for inspiration. And I found it! So here I am, hope you guys enjoy!**

 **Percy POV:**

"Can I guess?" Thalia said.

"What?" I questioned.

"Was it Drew?" She asked.

I sat there, wondering how to respond. I had dragged Jason and Thalia aside to speak to them. When I glanced back at the picnic blanket, I saw the others were trying to process what just happened.

"We'll take your silence as a yes," Jason observed.

The sun caught in my eyes and I shielded them from the light. I glanced at others walking past. Laughing. Smiling. Talking. They didn't understand. No one did. My eyes fell to the floor.

"What did she say? What's going on? Does Drew know something about you that we don't? Is it about Annabeth?" Thalia inquired.

"You should really learn how to bite your tongue, Thalia." I looked up into her eyes; they were wide with shock and pain. "Ah... I didn't mean... Sorry. You're just asking too many questions..."

Jason put his arm on my shoulder, "We're sorry. We want to help you. Tell us."

I shook my head and sighed. "What a crappy situation. I'm turning back to my roots, aren't I?"

Jason shot me a concerned look, "Are you?"

Thalia interjected, "Percy. Please, tell us."

I closed my eyes, "I guess you are the best people to tell. You already know... about my past."

Jason muttered, "You don't mean..."

I sighed, "And if I did?"

"Then talk to us. Talk to us and let us help you."

"Okay."

 **Annabeth POV:**

"Silena... Why did you bring me behind this tree?"

She spoke flatly, "Because we need to talk."

I rubbed my neck and glanced around me. The sun was beginning to set. My head was pounding.

"What's up?"

"...I don't trust you, Annabeth."

My eyes widened, "What?"

Silena balled her fists. "I-I don't trust you. You're too sketchy. How did you get on Percy's side so soon after meeting him? One of you mentioned Greece at the party, right? If that's true, how did you two end up at the same school? Why would Luke and Drew have a grudge against you? You didn't do anything to them, or so you say. Do you think you're better than them or something? You must, considering how you acted to us before. What makes you think you're a part of our group? Who invited you, huh?"

 _Why... Why is she saying this to me? Did I do something wrong?_ I looked in Silena's eyes. What did I do to enrage her so deeply? She looked at me as though I was a criminal, as though I had stolen something from her. But what was it?

"Silena did something happen-"

"There you go again!" She announced, flabbergasted. "You're so arrogant."

I felt my eyes well up in tears. My lip quivers. No. I won't cry. I won't.

"I-I think I should leave. Goodbye, Silena." A single tear escapes my eye and I curse myself.

I take the fake glasses I wore and crushed them under my foot. The glass shatters into fragments and I turn my back to Silena, running in the other direction.

"Wait! Annabeth!" Her calls are futile. I continue ahead, dolefully. I wasn't certain why I accepted this as genuine. The smiles they gave me. The reassurances they presented. They were all as fake as the glasses I disguised myself in. And now, they were shattered. I couldn't breathe; the sky turned into lava and I found no oxygen to inhale. My heart clutched and my eyes stung from the cool breeze.

My instincts brought me to my family. He stood alone, gazing into his phone. I tapped his shoulder.

"Annabeth? Your eyes are red, have you been crying?"

I collapsed into his arms. They were warm and familiar to me. "Please take me home..."

He looked at me and nodded, "Let's go. My bike's in the front."

We walked in silence to the school entrance. Will took me through the trees so we could avoid other students. I appreciated that.

He had brought his tandem bicycle, so I assumed he had come with Meg or Calypso. Hopefully, he didn't blow them off for me.

Will hopped on the bike and I followed, my feet identifying the pedals. I put my bag on my lap so that it wouldn't be in the way.

"Ready?"

"Probably not."

We set off, propelling our legs in syncopation. I suddenly remembered all the times before that we had done this. After school, in the park, alongside the sidewalks and roads, to the store, to parties and playdates, around the arch. The clouds suddenly crossed the sun, blocking the sunlight. I gripped tight onto the handlebars and felt cool air brush by me. I suddenly noticed a shadowed figure standing behind me.

I glimpsed back to see nothing but a figment of my imagination. There was no one there. _I'm just being paranoid._

We proceeded forward, and I left all my false hope behind.

 **Piper POV:**

"Well, damn. The social's almost over."

Nico groans. He was lying on the blanket, facing the sky, now a shade of saffron and nacarat (bright red-orange). Clouds littered the sky, covering the sun. I could even see the moon, faintly. "Guess so. Those idiots better come back soon; my mom isn't going to be happy about waiting."

It had been about an hour since Beth and Silena left. We didn't know where they had gone, so Beckendorf and Leo went out in search of them. Frank and Hazel left as well; they mentioned something about dinner with Grandma Zhang. Reyna was packing up the ice cream with others who helped volunteer. Thalia, Percy, and Jason were still having their serious chat. Grover went with some girl on a walk around the block a few minutes ago. Now, only Nico and I were here.

"How's your life?" I asked, bored out of my mind.

"Decent. Mostly crappy. You?" He requested.

I wasn't sure. Jason was as usual, all nerdy and geeky and adorable. Homework was a pain in the ass, not that it wasn't always. I had started singing lessons just last year after Jason forced me. And, choir sucked because I had to get up early in the mornings. "Also decent."

A breeze crossed by and I listened to the soft swish of the trees. A leaf fell into my lap and I studied it for a moment. Northern Red Oak. Russet red. Dull. Fragile. Light. Cold. "We might have to ditch them."

"Maybe."

Barely anyone was here, excluding the few kids who volunteered to clean up and the kids who were waiting for their rides. This whole social was a mess; we hardly spent any time together, and now no one is even here? What kind of joke is that?

I hummed a melody that brought me to rest. I saw Nico extract his phone and go on his messages. I would do the same, but my phone was nearing to dead.

I picked a weed from the ground next to me. It was a dandelion. The seeds were vast and delicate to the touch. I always hated that people disliked weeds. I, personally, thought they were beautiful. Even if they aren't roses, they still have beauty, like all things.

I made a wish and blew it out, the seeds dispersing around the fields. (If I tell you the wish, it won't come true!) I caught a seed in the air and studied its features. How someone could not find this beautiful, I'm not sure.

The air smelled sweet and new, like fresh cantaloupe. _Mmm, cantaloupe._

Silena dropped next to us, "Hey, I'm back..."

I turned to look at her; she seemed worried, "You okay? Where's Annabeth?"

She hid her face in her knees, "I messed up... Why did I say that to her?" I glanced over at Nico who shrugged at me.

"Did she leave?" Nico requested.

"Yeah... I tried to run after her, but she seemed really hurt..."

I moved next to her and put an arm over her shoulder, "Hey, it's going to be okay. Don't worry, we can talk to her later. For now, just calm down."

She shook her head, "No, you don't understand. I-I said some awful things... It's all my fault... What should I do?"

"Silena, calm down please." I tried to weave some charmspeak into my voice, "I'm sure you didn't mean to hurt her feelings. Annabeth will understand that."

 _What did she say?_

She looked up at me. I felt a tugging at my heart. "Thanks..."

"No problem."

Leo and Beckendorf came running down the field, "Silena!"

"Silena, where were you?" Leo asked, huffing. He and Beckendorf seemed a little worn out after running around the school in search of her.

"Sorry Leo, Charlie... I was looking for Annabeth."

I guess Beckendorf got the message I was trying to send and stopped pressing. "Let's go home, Sil." The three of them left us, heading to Leo's mother's car.

"Neeks, maybe we should run away. This is too much drama for even me."

He chuckled, "Maybe. That would be too much work, let's just hide."

We both laughed together, warming me up in the cold weather. "I didn't think it'd be this cold out. Didn't it say it'd be 50° tonight?"

"Yeah, though the wind makes it feel colder. Should we go wait in my mom's car? She just told me she was in the front."

I thought we should, but then I felt guilty for leaving the three of them. "You go if you want, I'll stay back for them."

He shook his head, "No, then you'd be here alone. I'll wait with you."

I smiled and we stayed together. The bright sky was darkening to a magenta-fuschia shade and there was now no one else at the school except for us. The social had ended 5 minutes ago.

 _Finally..._

Jason, Thalia, and Percy walked over to us. Their eyes were cold and hard and their hands were in their coat pockets.

"It's about time... where were you guys?" Nico questioned.

"It's a long story that I don't wanna get into again," Jason sighed. His eyes were panicked and troubled.

I smiled, "No problem. Let's head back home now." Thalia nodded and the four of us, Jason, Thalia, me, and Nico, walked to Nico's mom's car.

"Hey, Pipes," Percy asked, "What happened to Bethy and Silena?"

I rubbed my head, "Long story. Summary, Silena said something to Annabeth and then she left and Sil ran all over looking for her. Eventually, we found Sil and she told us. Then she, Leo and Beckendorf left."

Percy frowned, "I hope Bethy's okay... I'll try to call her. See ya guys tomorrow."

Thalia waved and skipped away. Jason said bye as well as me and Neeks. We got back to Nico's mother in front of the building.

"Do you know how long I've been waiting here? 20 minutes. 20 minutes!" Nico's mom remarked.

Nico barked, "You can blame those two. Piper and I were bored out of our minds waiting."

Thalia rolled her eyes, "Okay, we're sorry. Let's head back now, we still have school tomorrow."

Jason's eyebrows raised, "Thalia concerned about school? What is this insanity?"

She slapped him, playfully, on the back. Nico's mom started the car and we rode away. I settled my head on Jason's shoulder and he placed his head on top of mine. His heartbeat comforted me.

Jason said, loud enough for only me to hear, "You weren't waiting too long, were you, Pipes?"

"Nah," I replied in a similar tone, "Only about 40 minutes, no big deal..."

He chuckled lightly, "Sorry. I know you were excited about the social."

I fidgeted my hands in my lap. "Honestly, I'm more concerned about what the hell happened to Silena."

"Oh yeah, you said something about her to Percy right? What happened?"

As I retold the story to Jason, he listened, thoughtfully.

"So, she didn't say what she told Annabeth?"

I shook my head, "Only that she regretted it. I hope Annie's okay, I didn't see her leave."

Jason mumbled, "I think I saw her going to the front with Will."

I smiled, "Good, at least she's getting back safe. Honestly, I don't know where Annabeth came from; she's like an angel honestly."

Jason agreed, "She's a godsend, that's for sure. At first, Percy teased her like anything. I'm glad they ended up getting along. I don't know how she just became our friends so quickly; it's kind of ironic. I guess it was just destiny."

I led my hand over to his and gripped onto it. His hands were always so warm and big.

He brushed my hair behind my ear and kissed me on the forehead, "We were destiny too."

I replied, "It was meant to be."

 **Annabeth POV:**

We had ridden in silence the entire ride back. I wasn't sure if Will was biting his tongue or just didn't know what to say. I was thankful for either.

He pulled up at the curb of my house. I pulled my leg off the pedal and pushed myself off the seat, onto the street, bag in hand.

"Hey, Annabeth."

"Yeah, Will?"

"We gonna talk about this later?" A glimpse of concern crossed his eyes.

"Mhhm," I nodded. My eyes were red and puffy from tears, my nose runny. His brows furrowed. "I promise."

He nodded in response and biked away. The driveway was empty meaning that dad was out at his night job; he was a cashier.

I sighed and slowly strolled up to the door. My hand flew to my neck for the key and I unlocked the door, stumbling into the house. The house smelled of something burnt, so I assumed my father had attempted to cook.

My assumption was correct.

The kitchen was a mess, pans, and bowls all over the tables, the sink overflowing with dirty dishes, ladles, and spatulas covering the surface. I could barely even see the table.

"Gods, that old man needs to take a cooking lesson..."

I pulled up my sleeves and attended to the congested sink. Cleaning the dishes brought me to ease. It was sort of like a metaphor.

As I scrubbed a pan clean, I imagined I was clearing up my emotions, scrubbing them clean of the events from today. My phone began to ring.

It was Percy.

I honestly thought about picking up, I'll be honest. But what would I say? 'Hey, Percy! Huh? Yeah, I totally started bawling like a baby really dramatically and fled from the party! Sorry for ditching you after going off about you ditching me! You're the best!'

Yeah no.

I was such a hypocrite! And smashing my glasses like that? Oh Annabeth, you're so overdramatic!

I was way over the line. I mean, everything Silena said was true. I took the whole thing for granted.

"Ding, dong~"

I ran to the bell, "Coming, dad. You're home early!"

I pulled the door open and it wasn't my dad.

"Hey, Annabeth."

My legs nearly gave out. "Luke? How the hell did you get my address?"

"Dial it back, I asked Noah."

 _Noah!? That loser actually gave out my address? What a jerk!_

I swallowed, "What do you want?"

He gestured behind him, "Let's go for a walk."

"Pass."

He smirked, "Aw, don't be like that; I could just give your address out to all of my friends..."

I shuddered, "Okay, fine. Let me get my coat."

"Take your time, Beth; I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

I shut the door behind me and stumble into my closet, grabbing for a coat. _I need to call Will._

I could have just texted him then, but I didn't want Luke popping his head in. _Gods, what do I do?_

For now, I'll walk with him. I'll keep a hand on my phone though.

My hand glided up to the knob and twisted the door open.

Luke smiled, running his hand through his rough blonde hair, "Let's go, Annabeth."

I gulped and hesitantly walked through my driveway with my worst nightmare.

 **Percy POV:**

 _I guess I told them. Should I feel I relieved? Like a weight has been taken off my shoulders? Because instead I feel like I just dropped two weights onto their shoulders and now we're all being weighed down._

 _Annabeth left somehow, most likely with Will or her dad or something. Ditching her was a stupid move, I know, but she technically left first with Silena._

"Perseus Jackson!"

I flinched back to reality. My mother was in front of me.

"What in the world is wrong with you?"

I rubbed my eyes, "I don't know, nothing really."

"Then why are you running your hands through your hair? You only do that when you're anxious, Percy."

I pulled my hands out of my hair onto my lap. "Mom, I'm fine."

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, you're fine and cows are raining from the sky?"

I widened my eyes, "Really?"

She glared at me, "Don't act stupid. So, would you mind going out tonight to get some things from the shop? I'm a little busy here."

My mom regularly requested me to go and purchase things or take care of errands because she was engaged in her job.

"Can't. I actually have an important assessment tomorrow," I replied.

My mom sat next to me, "Really? What subject?"

"Math. Curious?"

She replied, "Just asking. Maybe you can go and then come back and study? It'll only take like half an hour."

"Maybe for you! It takes longer to bike there!" My mom fidgeted with her fingers. I closed my laptop, "You okay?"

She smiled, "Of course. Hey, does anyone else take the test too?"

I thought for a second, then answered, "Grover, I think."

"Why not study with him then?"

I laughed, "Study with Grover? Mom, what are you talking about? We would definitely get distracted! You know that! Are... are you trying to get me out of the house?"

She went mute and the bell chimed. She swore, "I told him to come at 6..."

Judging from her attitude, there's only one person this could be.

My bag was slung over my shoulder and I tucked my laptop inside of it. Then, I walked over to the door and yanked it open.

"Dad?"

"Percy! Hey! You're never here when I come by!" My dad was wearing his work clothes; I assumed he had just come from a meeting. His face looked tired and sweaty as though he hadn't gotten the chance to sit down in years. Still, he smiled at me his pathetic state.

I glimpsed over at mom, "When he comes by?"

She looked away, "Your father stopped by a couple of times."

What?

"Why didn't you say anything?"

She, still looking away, softly spoke, "Percy, can you go up for a few minutes?"

I asked again, "Mom, why didn't you tell me dad was coming by?"

"Percy, go up to your room."

"Mom-"

"Percy." Her words, now firm, came surging out, "Go to your room."

I looked back at dad who smiled sympathetically, "Percy, listen to your mother."

Falteringly, I walked over to the stairs and climbed up to my room. As I slid into my room, I was still confused. _Why was dad coming over? What were he and mom talking about?_

As I fell into my bed, I pulled out my computer and began working again.

 _"Oh, so apparently 5:30 is 6:00 now?"_

 _"You always yell at me for coming late so I came a little early! How is it you find a way to get angry for everything I do?"_

 _"Oh, so 30 minutes is a little early? And I could've convinced him to leave if you'd given me 5 more minutes!"_

 _So she did want me to leave._

I pressed my ear to the floor and I could hear mom and dad pretty well.

 _"Listen. I'm tired of these pointless meetings!"_ My mother's voice was shrill.

I heard my dad respond in his low, rich voice, _"They're only pointless because you have no intention of listening!"_

I heard a scoff, _"Then find something worth me listening to!"_

 _"Even if I did, would you really change your mind?"_

She yelled, _"What is that supposed to mean?"_

 _"It means that you have no purpose of letting me help Percy."_

 _Help me?_

" _You wouldn't be helping him! That's called a short cut, Poseidon!"_

 _"Can you demand me to sit by idly watching him struggle? Is that my responsibility as a parent?"_

She groaned, _"Of course not! He isn't struggling! He comes back home every day with a smile on his face and I would know."_

 _"That's now, Sally! Sooner or later, the two of you are going to be needing money for college. You can't possibly pay for everything, yet you refuse to accept any help? Why? The only way to pay the fees is for Percy to get a job!"_

My mother's voice was strong, _"No. He does not need to do that. As his mother, I should-"_

 _"And_ as _his father, I shouldn't?"_

My mother hissed, _"Yes, you shouldn't! If I did let you pay the fees, then what? He becomes a rich, spoiled brat?"_

 _"Like me?"_

 _"I didn't say that!"_

 _"You thought it, though."_

She sighed, _"Poseidon, you just never listen!"_

I closed my ears. They would never stop arguing, after all. I looked outside; it was still bright enough to go for a walk. Studying could wait for a while; there's no way I could study like this.

The window slid open and I slid out of it, climbing into a tree. My phone was in my pocket, so I would be fine coming back at like 6 if I could check the time.

As I lowered myself down the tree, my phone chimed. "Great timing," I muttered.

Right when I reached the ground, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and hit answer, "What's up?"

"So, how is it?" A low, smooth voice says.

"What?" I hear a familiar voice: Annabeth.

"You know, the walk. You seemed a little hesitant at first. Did anything change your mind?"

There was a pause. "I guess I felt less like you were a bad person."

This was a call from Luke. _Oh, gods, that means..._

My bike was sitting on the side of my garage; I rushed over to grab it.

I was definitely not going to be back by 6.

Annabeth POV:

"Less like a bad person?" He mused.

 _Ugh. You are the worst person._

"More or less."

He smiled, "I think I'm growing on you, Annabethy."

 _No; no you are not, please go away._

I shrugged and continued to walk with him. He had asked if there was anywhere I wanted to go with him. Hell seemed like a nice place for him.

"Ooh, let's go there," He grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him as we walked to wherever he was leading me.

We were basically in front of a shed. Well, not really a shed.

Me, Will, and Alice called it the clubhouse. We would bring our homework here after school and work on it since no one really came by here. Afterward, we'd play games together until the sun set and our parents called us home.

"Actually, I think I should get back now, my dad will be worried..."

He tightened his grip on me, "What's a few minutes?"

I gulped and followed him into the clubhouse. It was dark now, so I could barely see anything inside. Luke used the flashlight on his phone to help us see.

"Isn't this cozy? Let's sit," he tapped on the chair next to him.

"Luke, I really can't stay..."

He frowned, "Are you sure? I don't know what I'd do without you... Well, I have a basic idea..."

Luke threw his arms around me and pushed me onto the chair. He sat on top of me, holding my hands down.

"What the hell? Luke, get off," I screamed, attempting to break free.

He smirked, "Maybe if you ask nicely..."

 _This asshole..._

My heart beat fast as he brought his face closer to mine. "Luke, please, just..."

"Oh? So you can say please! I thought your tongue was only sharp. Maybe it's grown dull from fear."

"Fear of what? What are you doing, Luke?"

He licked his lips, and my eyes widened. "You bastard! No, get off!"

Luke only grinned, "There's that razor-sharp tongue again. Luckily, mine is also notably piercing. What would happen if they crossed, I wonder..."

He pulled my chin to him and I slapped him with my open hand. It was pointless.

"You've got some fighting spirit, Bethy. I like the feisty ones."

 _What... What do I do?_

He crashed his lips onto me and I froze. Why?

I bit his lip and he retracted, swearing. "Damn, Annabeth... you're really asking for it..."

His scratchy lips found my collarbone, and I howled, "STOP!"

 _Dad? Will? Percy? Mom?_

 _Anyone?_

The door to the clubhouse swung open and I shut my eyes.

"Get your filthy hands off her, Luke."

I opened my eyes. It was Percy.

 _Thank the gods..._

Luke sighed and got away from me, "Of course you'd come."

Percy punched him in the gut and Luke fell to the ground, groaning. "You deserve worse."

I met his eyes and he smiled, "Wise girl, let's bounce."

 _How can he be so nonchalant?_

My legs, still shaking, led me out the door and I walked home with Percy.

 **Percy POV:**

We walked back in silence. I didn't know what to say to her. She didn't know what to say to me.

It was late now, definitely past 6, maybe 7. I had left my bike at Annie's and ran around looking for her, so I couldn't bring her back on it. I was glad I brought a coat; It was freezing outside.

My phone dinged and I checked it. I had messages from my mom.

"Percy, where are you?"

"Come home soon, alright? We need to talk."

Damn, right we need to talk.

"Percy, how did you know that Luke was with me?" Annabeth requested.

I replied, "Luke called me and I overheard your conversation. He does this a lot so I knew what was going to happen and I came over as soon as I could."

"Oh..." She faltered.

"Are you okay, Annabeth?"

She nodded, "Yeah. It's just... I didn't want something like that to be my first kiss..."

I stopped for a second, "Wait... your first kiss was with that douchebag?"

"Maybe..."

Suddenly, I felt like a horrible person. I hoped she could just forget this whole ordeal, but how could I ask her to forget her first kiss? And why did it have to be with that dick?

I put my hands on her shoulders. "Annabeth. I'm sorry."

She laughed, "Why are you sorry? You just saved my ass! I should be sorry for dragging you out like that."

"No, let's just agree it's that prick's fault."

"Let's," she agreed. We continued walking and soon reached her house.

She groaned, "Damn it, Dad's here. I need to think of an excuse."

Lights were still on in the living room, so he was most likely waiting for her.

I suggested, "Tell him you were sorting out things with a friend?"

She shook her head, "I couldn't, he would want details and I'm already not the best at lying."

I cursed, "Okay, let me come with you. I did say I would bring you back."

She nodded and we walked up along her driveway. Before we could even ring the bell, Annabeth's dad opened the door, "Where in the world were you?"

She grinned, "Hey dad, I was just walking around with Percy."

His face was congested with concern, "At this hour?"

"Sorry, Mr. Chase, it was my fault. I should have brought her back earlier."

He looked back over to Annabeth, "Go inside, we'll talk."

Annabeth sauntered into her house, "See you on Monday, Seaweed Brain."

"See ya, Wise Girl."

Once she was gone, Mr. Chase got back to me. "I know she came back home before she left again."

"Hm?"

He laughed, "Don't play me, Jackson. I could tell she washed the dishes and sprayed air freshener all over the house. Whatever happened... make sure you protect her, Percy."

 _Of course, he knew. After all, I could never dupe Annabeth's dad._

"Also your parents are worried about you. Poseidon called me."

I gulped. I had forgotten about my parents for a second.

"Right, of course, I should get back home. Bye, sir."

He laughed again, "Bye, Jackson."

As I souped up blackjack, I remembered my parents' conversation.

 _Why did mom not want dad to help out with my college fees?_

 _She was so aggressive telling me to go upstairs..._

I flew ahead, zooming off to my house, ready to feel my mother's wrath.

 **Hey children ~**

 **Hope you like the chapter (sorry it took so long, I'll try to finish the next one quicker).**

 **Also, I know you all hate Luke right now and believe me:**

 **It's going to be hard for him to redeem himself (if he tries).**

 **SO YEah, I'm really busy with school and other activities, but I'll try to update quicker.**

 **With loves,**

 **KHO 3**


	13. Hiatus

Hey, demigods!

I'm genuinely sorry, but I think I'm going to pause the story here.

I truly enjoyed writing it and I'm going to continue writing stories in my free time. I just can't keep up and post chapters. I hoped to post once a week, but that was impossible for me, so I started to post biweekly. Presently, I can't post even once a month!

At first, I assumed I was just losing time to work on updates, but I realized the true reason. I'm struggling with writer's block. Usually, my writer's block has passed after several days, a week at most. My writer's block isn't fading. My prediction for why is because I'm not enjoying my writing.

I'm struggling to come up with ideas and techniques to make this story better. It might not seem like it, but I pictured this story going in a much different direction. Now, I don't know how to implement my original plan to the story! For this reason, I believe I need to stop writing this story right now. I didn't plan it very thoroughly and my outline for the story was dull and not well supported. I'm going to try writing another story that isn't fanfiction.

Don't worry, I will most likely pick this story back up in the future when I'm ready to tackle it again. I need to take a break from PJO for a while. Still, I don't think I'll ever stop writing as a whole :)

I'm sorry if you're disappointed. I'm also troubled about my decision. Where I'm leaving off in the story was poorly planned. I just don't think I'm ready to handle a complicated story like this while including references and trying to work in my original plot. I feel like a wimp for backing out now, but I think it's going to be a sounder decision for me than working to continue the story now and ending up suffering in the process of attempting to salvage what I wanted this story to be.

If you're interested in my new story and you have Wattpad, the story is called "Corrupted" and my username is also wisegirl4kelphead.

This story is something I'm more pleased and interested in writing, so I hope that my new plans and outlines for it will be useful. Thanks for sticking with me so far, I've had a great year updating this!

Love, KHO


End file.
